Light & Dark
by EPAF
Summary: His name was Kenny McCormick. But for Kenny, this story was to teach him the true meanings of Love, Friendship, Betrayal, Honesty and Courage through the true powers of Light and Dark. [Chapter 41c now up]
1. A Boy And His Corruption

**Chapter 1: A Boy And His Corruption**

**Prologue: **In some religions, children believe that when you die, you either go to Heaven or you go to Hell; depending on whether you've been good or bad in your past life. They also believe that Heaven is a nice place full of fluffy clouds, angels and other bright things and that Hell is an awful fiery place full of fire, lava, devils and other demonic creatures. But then again……some religious beliefs are just full of shit. The truth is that we humans do not and never have known what Heaven and Hell really feels and looks like. However for one kid…that unknown truth is about to be revealed; he just doesn't know it……but he soon will…………………

Let us begin this story in a seemingly quiet mountain town by the name of South Park in Colorado, America (Earth). The time now was February 16th 2007 and everybody in the town was getting along with their lives; just as they always did previously. Everything was running smoothly in life for the townsfolk. But it was especially positive for four young boys who had already seen out 10 years of their young lives already.

For Stan, Kyle and Cartman, having finished school for another day seemed normal and alright to them; even though deep down they all hated going to school just like all typical kids. But then there was the forth boy; Kenny. For Kenny, life hadn't been such a walk in the (South) park. Having died numerous times and then suddenly coming back to life, he had the feeling that he was having some kind of weird level of both good and bad luck at the same time. But that wasn't the only problem. Over the years, Kenny started to feel isolated from the others; as if he was becoming more and more repelled from his friends and even his family. He couldn't explain it but it was as if his own trade-mark orange parka jacket was the very tool of his own social isolation.

Every day he would find himself a quiet shell of his own-expected self; saying nothing and allowing his two best friends Stan and Kyle to do all the talking whilst he stood there counting as 'the third' or even forth boy at times. Kenny couldn't explain or understand this problem, but he knew he couldn't talk to anybody about it. I mean it's not as if there was anybody else who had the same life as he had.

On that very Friday afternoon during the beginning part of the 3rd hour of the afternoon, the four boys were walking home from school. Kenny as usual was the one who had to settle to being the boy who was walking right at the back of the pack.

"So whose house should we stay at tonight? All our parents are going away for the whole weekend so we best decide now before we get all confused or sumin." Kyle spoke; breaking the silence that had surrounded the four boys for quite a while.

"Well we can't stay at my house dude; my sister will just beat us up all night long." Stan spoke; worrying about that very possibility.

"Yeh I guess that's true; so anybody decided?"

"Hey guys, how about we stay at my house!" Kenny spoke; expressing a great deal.

"Peh…your house Kenny?..." Cartman began. "…Sorry guys…but me and poor people's houses…just don't mix."

"Shut up Cartman, it's not that bad; at least it's a place I can call home."

"Cartman's right dude…it is a pretty crappy house."

"Oh come on guys…we're never staying at my house; just let me be the kinda…host, just this once."

The other three thought for a moment.

"Hey guys, why don't we stay at my house…I just got the latest DVD box sets of the first series of 'Lost'. We can watch them tonight on my dad's new HD TV." Kyle spoke; at which Stan strongly agreed and Cartman fairly agreed with it.

"Kick ass dude, your house rules!" Stan replied.

"Oh god dam it, why is it that Kyle always has to get something cool before me…it's so unfair."

"Shut up Cartman…I only got those things because we can actually afford them and we actually went to the store and bought them."

As Kyle and Cartman broke into one of their typical arguments with Stan stuck in the middle of the two, Kenny stopped for a minute; staring at the three boys with a saddened look hiding behind the thickness of his orange jacket. He sighed and fastened the top bit of his jacket up right to its highest point; resuming his walk and catching up to the others. The weather in South Park had got a lot colder and snow was once more starting to descend from the greyish white clouds in the sky.

Meanwhile, not too far up above the ground, two strange balls of light were hovering in the air; about 100 feet above ground level. One ball of white light surrounded in light blue and the other of black light surrounded by dark purple. Both balls of light were made up of some kind of strange glowing energy that gave off a very warm and comforting feel. They were about the same size as any of the four boys and were completely spherical in shape.

"Is that him?" The black ball of light spoke.

"Yeh, that's him; the one in the orange jacket now walking behind the other three boys." The white ball of light replied.

"Oh thank goodness, I didn't want to look like that fat kid."

"Divelia!"

"What? I'm just saying I'm glad it's someone who doesn't look like him."

"Divelia, I know you're not 'human'…but you could at least act like it whilst we're here and show these beings some respect."

"Sorry Ageliss, it's just……well it's been 9 years since we first came to this planet searching for him and we've seen quite a few strange beings on this planet during that time. Anyway…what does this kid look like?"

"Well from what I know, he's a 9 year old boy who has hazel-coloured eyes and scruffy blond hair."

"Blond hair! Nice, I like blond hair, now I know I'll definitely look good in human form whilst we're here."

"Yeh, but remember what we're here for; we're here to help this kid. You do realise he still doesn't know the kind of thing he faces ahead of him."

"Don't worry…I'm sure he'll be alright about it."

"Let's hope so."

The two balls of light started travelling down towards the four boys; and more precisely, towards Kenny. Ageliss; the white ball of light and the Divelia; the black ball of light, were targeting Kenny for one specific reason; a reason of unnatural proportion.

"OK so it's settled, we're staying at my house tonight then."

"Cool…should I bring round my Wii?" Stan asked at which point Cartman broke down into laughter. Kyle and Stan looked at Cartman with slightly annoyed looks on their faces.

"God dam it Cartman, it's not funny anymore. It was funny when it was first heard but it's not now."

"OK OK…I'm sorry you guys. I just can't believe you'd really want to play with Stan's Wii." Cartman broke down laughing again. "Here's an idea you guys…at Kyle's house tonight…we can eat, drink, sleep and play with our Wii." He continued laughing.

Stan and Kyle started ignoring Cartman's failed humor. "Sure dude, that Nintendo Wii thing kicks ass. Make sure you bring round that shooting and sword game too; that game's killer!"

"Which one?"

"How about both!"

"Hell yeh."

"Hey guys, should I bring anything around too?" Kenny asked; trying to get himself back into the conversation.

"No dude…I think we have enough dust at home already." Kyle and Stan started laughing at which Kenny became slightly annoyed. "Ah come on dude, we're only kidding. Come on, let's go."

As soon as Cartman had picked himself up from all his own laughter, the four boys walked off down the path; with Kenny still at the back of the group.

Ageliss and Divelia meanwhile we're closing in on their target.

"Alright brother, you know what to do?"

"Sure Ageliss. All I have to do is bond myself to him, go into his body and then start to do all that energy-related stuff."

"Yeh, but remember, be gentle with him. It will hurt him, but make sure you don't kill him."

"Got'cha."

"Alright, let's do this!"

The two balls of light quickly flew down like birds of prey down towards Kenny. With sights of their surroundings flying past them at both corners of their visions, the two balls of light quickly stuck to the back of Kenny's jacket; covering his entire back body with a mixture of light and dark light. Kenny felt a slight pinch all over the back of his body and he fell down to his knees as he felt a strange pain start to radiate all over his body. The two balls of light oozed themselves past Kenny's jacket and quickly into his body. What they were going to do remained unclear. Kenny started feeling dizzy and slightly drained of energy.

Stan and Kyle looked back and spotted Kenny on his knees as if he was hurt.

"Kenny…you alright dude?" Kyle asked; helping Kenny back up onto his feet.

"Yeh…yeh I'm fine." Kenny replied; slightly lacking breath.

"What happened to yer'?" Stan spoke.

"I dunno…I started feeling kinda dizzy and then I guess I must have tripped."

"Well come on dude, we have to get home to get packed for tonight."

The four boys walked off; with Kenny now unaware that he had two strange 'entities' inside his body.

"Soon it will be done……by tomorrow, his feeling of existence, power and thinking will have completely changed."

"Let's hope so brother…let's hope so."

The two entities remained silent in their thoughts; speaking only telepathically to one another as they began their first job on what they were doing to Kenny.

Later that night, the four boys were all now at Kyle's house; having packed what they needed for what they hoped would be a long weekend without their parents. As each of them was getting final hugs and kisses from their parents; as usual, they were getting the traditional endless lists of jobs to do and tips on what might happen; just to be on the safe side.

"Now Stan remember, you take care of yourself OK? Don't be getting into any trouble or anything like that."

"I won't mom…I won't."

"Yeh Stan, and remember, your sister's always here with yer' as well."

"Yeh thanks dad, I'm really glad of that." Stan spoke; secretly being sarcastic about that.

"Kyle, you make sure nothing bad happens to the house or anything else alright while we're away."

"Don't worry about it mom; I'll keep everything tidy and clean just like you said."

"That's my boy…now you and your little friends enjoy yourself while we're all away."

As all the parents made their way to the cars to begin their short journey off, the four boys stood in the doorway waving out to their parents. The cars drove off and the four boys walked back into the house. The house stood silent for a few seconds and then all four of them jumped up in celebration. Having all four of their homes (well nearly all four) to themselves for a whole weekend without any parents or adults.

"Dude, this is gunna be so much fun."

"Hell yeh, come on let's play that new sword game I got for the Wii."

As Kenny started to walk forward, he started to feel pains in his chest and other certain parts of his body. He pressed his hand up against where his heart was and limped forward in slight pain.

"Dude, you alright?"

"Yeh…I think so…it must be something I ate."

"Dude Kenny, you've been feeling like this since we got back from school. Did you eat that expired piece of meat that we were told not to eat during lunch today."

"No…now why would I want to do that?"

"Because you're poor."

"Shut up Cartman…he may be poor but he's not that poor."

A little while later, as Stan and Kyle began setting up Stan's Wii whilst Cartman was lazing about on the couch, Kenny was upstairs in the bathroom; still feeling dizzy and getting strange pains all over his body. He took the hood part of hi jacket off his head and folded it back behind. He looked at the mirror next to the sink. He could see that he was starting to sweat and his eyes were half open; as if he was either tired or that he was drained of energy. Splashing his face with some water from the sink, he took a few painkillers; thinking that he could get rid of some of the pain in his body that way. Looking back in the mirror, he took a deep breath and fastened his hood back up. Walking back down the stairs, he walked straight into the living room where he saw Cartman playing some kind of sword game on the Wii.

Cartman seemed to be really enjoying himself; doing huge swings of both the Nunchuck and the controller.

"Ah man, this game KICKS ASS! Hey what's this game called anyway?"

"Ummmm…Made In China…oh no wait……wait……it's called…Red Steel."

"Well Red Steel…kicks major video game ass!"

"Oh hey Kenny, how come you were up in my bathroom for twenty minutes?"

"Really, it was twenty minutes? I must have felt really bad and just lost track of time."

Stan and Kyle looked at one another; slightly worried about how Kenny was feeling.

"Dude…maybe you're not feeling well."

"Yeh dude…you should go and see a doctor tomorrow…you've been acting really strange tonight."

"Alright…I will. Hey can I have a go of that Cartman?"

"No…I'm still playing on it…wait yer' turn."

"Cartman for god's sake let Kenny have a go. You've been on that game for a f---ing long time anyway."

"Alright alright, fine. Here Kenny."

"Thanks Car..."

But as Kenny grabbed hold of the wireless controller, he suddenly dropped it; freezing at the feeling of pain inside him again. He knelt down slightly and pressed one hand against his heart whilst the other was pushed up against his chest. Whatever he was feeling this time, it was a real serious problem now.

"Kenny, what's wrong dude?" Stan asked; now becoming even more worried at Kenny's condition.

"Arghh, I'm…fine guys. Just need to go to the bathroom again…or…something." Kenny limped off back up the stairs; yelling out slightly shouts of pain and somewhat aggression.

But as he made it back to the bathroom door, the energy in his body suddenly started to feel really painful. Kenny fell to the floor; trying to reach the handle of the door to get inside the room. But Kenny could still feel this horrible pain in his body. It was as if some burning and eroding feeling was eating away at his body from inside and doing something to him. Whatever it was, it didn't feel nice and Kenny was starting to worry that he could be dead within the next minute if this kept going.

Realising he couldn't reach the handle; he started crawling his way into Kyle's bedroom just as an instinct to try and solve this painful problem. As soon as he was in, a huge roar of heat engulfed his body. He felt as if he was being burned alive. Kenny leaned up against the bed with what little energy he had left and quickly took off his jacket; realising he was too hot with it on. But the burning and hot feeling was still continuing in and on his body. Wearing nothing but his usual pair of white underpants, Kenny was lying on the bed in pain. The hot and cold feelings of death that he had suffered over the years felt as if they were repeating on him again. Minute after minute, Kenny screamed in pain and agony; he had never felt so much pain in all his life.

Back downstairs, the other three boys couldn't sit about any longer. The screams and shouts of their best friend sent them back onto their feet and rushing upstairs.

"Dude, we have to help him. He sounds like he's f---ing dieing up there!" Kyle shouted.

"Kyle, what do we do? We don't even know what's wrong with him!" Stan replied; waving his arms about in worried fear.

"We have to do something Stan! Kenny's in f---ing pain up there!"

Stan, Kyle, Cartman rushed out of the living room. But at the same time, two others were aware of this.

"Divelia, the three other lads…stop them! If we don't complete this then we'll have no chance in what we came here to do."

"Right, got it Ageliss!"

And within the blink of a second, Stan, Kyle and Cartman stopped as they all strangely started to feel really really tired; exhausted even.

"Oh Jesus, why am I so tired all of a sudden?" Kyle spoke; rubbing his eyes and lacking the energy to move.

"I don't know dude, but I'm feeling really really sleepy!"

"Yeh me too Stan."

The three boys suddenly collapsed onto the floor just below the staircase; all now sleeping and unable to wake up.

Back upstairs, Kenny had already endured minutes and minutes of long lasting pain and agony. And just at the point where the clock turned to 11:01pm, Kenny's screams of pain faded down and eventually out; silencing everything around him. Kenny lay there; now out cold from what he had just felt. And as a small breeze came through the small opening of Kyle's bedroom window and blew across his face and messed up blond hair, Kenny's body had changed; both outside and inside. But what exactly had happened and who were these two entities that had caused Kenny so much pain and agony?

All would be answered soon.


	2. Opposites Attract

**Chapter 2: Opposites Attract**

Kenny opened his eyes; feeling slightly dazed and dizzy. He could see that the room was lighter than what it was the last time he had his eyes open. It was now Saturday morning. The sun was beaming its warm sunshine rays into the room; bouncing off the walls and back onto Kenny. He lifted himself up and scratched his head even though he seemed half asleep and quite tired.

He went to scratch his chest but his fingers created friction against something. He looked down and was shocked to see that he was wearing clothes. As his gaze went further, he realised that he was completely dressed in clothes; shirt, trousers and socks. His shirt was red in colour and had an incredible amount of black graphic styles on it. Kenny had never seen the type of design that was on his shirt before but they were of very strange styles. Looking down further, he noticed his trousers were actually a blue pair of jeans covered in white graphics that went right down both sides.

As he stood back up onto the bedroom floor, he walked up to the mirror. It took him a few minutes to realise that he had something on both his arms. As he jumped to the shock of it, he pulled up both sleeves of his shirt to see that he had what looked like long tattoos running down both his arms. On one side, a white tattoo and the other side, a black tattoo. He tried to rub them off but they wouldn't disappear. Scratching them as hard as he could, he pressed his fingers down onto his arm to try and at least scratch them off. But all his attempts failed. Just as he expected, they wouldn't come off.

Confused by this whole incident, he put his orange jacket back on, zipped it up tight and walked out of the room. As he slowly walked down the stairs, he had a weird buzz in his body; shaking slightly and becoming almost warm in a way. He was shocked to see the other three boys lying on the floor all asleep as he got down to the last step.

"Hey……guys…wake up!" Kenny spoke; as he shook Stan and Kyle to try and wake them up. But nothing happened. Suddenly, Kenny heard a noise coming from the kitchen; as if someone was in there.

Kenny carefully tip-toed his way through the living room, making sure to not get heard by whatever was in the kitchen. As he peaked around the corner, he saw nothing. He revealed his whole body out into the open of the room's end point to find that no one was there; it was silent. Taking a huge sigh of relief, he turned back around but immediately stopped as he bumped straight into someone.

"Hi there, I see yer' quite surprised by all this eh?" A boy with blond hair spoke.

Kenny screamed under the thickness of his jacket and ran off. But as he turned his head around, another boy was standing exactly in front of him as well.

"There's no need to panic about all this, it's alright." The other boy with blond hair spoke.

Kenny ran off into another direction; screaming for his life. He ran back into the hallway.

"GUYS…GUYS!..." He yelled out to try and wake up the other three. "There's two big kids in the house and they don't look very nice...and well……they look exactly like me!"

Surprisingly, the two boy strangers did look exactly like identical; each having scruffy blond hair…like Kenny, each having hazel-coloured eyes…like Kenny and also having the same facial look…like Kenny.

Kenny looked back up and was horrified and frightened at the fact that the two boys were looking down at him; standing right next to where he knelt.

"Do you humans always act like this when you see something like this?"

Kenny ran out of the house; still screaming. The two boys looked at one another with puzzled looks on their faces.

"Ageliss…you did say this was Kenny McCormick didn't you?"

"Course I did Divelia…THAT IS him."

"Heh, oh well we best go after him before he does something stupid."

"I agree, but first, get rid of that sleeping thing you put on these three."

"Sure, no problem."

Ageliss and Divelia who appeared to be now in human form, walked out of the house. Divelia clicked his fingers and slowly, the other three boys woke up.

Meanwhile, Kenny was hiding in a group of bushes; trying to keep his shaking and noises of fear to a minimum. He hadn't even realised that the two boys he saw earlier looked just like him; he was full of fear too much to even realise it. It didn't take Ageliss and Divelia long to find him. As they stood in a not-so-far distance looking at a group of shaking bushes, they looked at each other. Ageliss opened out the palm of his hand and using some kind of mental ability, was able to lift Kenny up into the air; allowing him to hover freely in mid-air. Ageliss pulled Kenny towards him and Divelia as Kenny screamed lightly at what the heck was going on. As Kenny stopped just in front of the two, he looked at them with fear all over his face.

"PLEASE…don't kill me…I'm just a kid…please!" Kenny pleaded with the two as he continued to hover in mid-air by the power of Ageliss' mental grasp.

"Kenny…we're not going to kill you…we just want to talk."

"T-talk? About what!"

"About why we're here…we've got some very thorough stuff to tell you."

"Well will you let me go then?"

"Will you listen to what we've got to say then?"

"YEH…SURE…whatever you say."

Ageliss carefully placed Kenny back on the ground. Kenny wasn't sure whether to run as fast as he could or stay. But for the sake of it, he decided to stay.

The two boys made their way to a nearby log and sat down on it whilst Kenny stared at them in confusion and fear.

"Alright…you want to know what's going on Kenny?" Divelia asked; expecting what Kenny was going to answer.

"Errrr…yeh…sure."

"Alright here we go……" Ageliss cleared his throat (something that he had never done before in human form) and resumed speaking. "First off, we're not human. We're not of any creature you know of or don't know of in this whole Universe. Us two are actually from two separate dimensions."

"Two separate dimensions?"

"Yes…we're both brothers but we born in separate existences. My brother Divelia was born in what you call Hell…whereas I was born in what you call Heaven."

"Wait a minute! Are you two like the sons of God and the devil or something coz' I thought that was just a load of s---!"

The two boys looked at each other. "Ummmm…well no not exactly. To be honest, we don't have a father…or a……mother to put it that way; we were just born."

"OK…so who are you two then and what are you doing here?"

"Well as you may have already heard…I am Ageliss; sole Guardian of Heaven and all in it whereas my brother Divelia here is the sole Guardian of Hell. We both travelled to this dimension and to this world in order to find you. A terrible TERRIBLE spirit is about to strike on this planet and you are the only one who can defeat it and stop it from taking over every bit of existence that lives within the natural Universe."

Kenny looked at them; eyes widened and mouth wide open. "Holy s---! What kind of f---ing story is that!"

Ageliss and Divelia looked at each other and stood back up. "Walk this way Kenny; we have something to tell you." As the two boys walked down the snowy field, Kenny followed; remaining in-between the two of them.

"You see Kenny. There's a reason why everything exists as it does…a supernatural reason!"

"Supernatural? What do you mean?"

"Well…it all started about 300 million of your Earth years ago. On that day, four separate dimensions were created in order to balance out the existence of all life, energy, matter and space in the very Universe; Heaven, Hell, your Dimension and the 4th dimension."

"4th dimension?"

"Yes…the 4th dimension is a cold, dark, lonely, baron emptiness. Unfortunately, it was there that gave birth to one of the most darkest and cold-hearted spirits of all; a spirit of immeasurable evil."

"Wait a minute…I thought Hell was supposed to be like one of the most evillest places that exists."

"Yeh…YOU THOUGHT that…but it's not true."

Kenny was confused even more now. Divelia continued. "Heaven and Hell are like two opposite mirrors that reflect everything that exists in this Universe. One of light and one of dark. What you thought were Heaven and Hell…don't even exist."

"But wait a minute…I've been to both Heaven and Hell in my life…how can you say they don't exist."

"Because they're not the real Heaven and Hell!"

Kenny stopped walking. Those words stunned him and shock flooded onto his face. "They're……they're not real?"

"No……those two places were simply cover-ups."

"But…but it doesn't make any sense. Why?"

"Because it's the only way to hide the truth……"

"What truth!"

The two boys stopped and turned back around to face Kenny. Ageliss sighed and took over speaking.

"That the three dimensions are slowly collapsing; falling apart as time passes."

"Collapsing?"

"Over the past 100 years, me and Divelia have been sensing very dark evil detections coming from the 4th dimension. What we feared…has happened. The evil spirit that we mentioned…has broken free from his prison."

"What do you mean?"

"The evil spirit that goes by the name of **Xerok** was once imprisoned in that dimension for trying to conquer all three dimensions and take control of all existence in the Universe. He was eventually defeated and sealed up within the tightest of gaps within the 4th dimension. However by some unfortunate sense of bad luck, he's managed to find a way out of that dimension and is now was once more trying to fulfil his desire of ultimate power and control."

"So why don't you two go and beat him."

"The problem is…is that we alone can't beat him……we need your help Kenny!"

"ME? Are you out of your f---ing mind? I can't fight this……this thing; especially after what you've told me."

"Don't worry Kenny. That's the reason why we're here!"

"That's right. A prophecy was once told to us that a child of incredible spiritual energy would one day be born in this dimension and would be destined to destroy the evil spirit; using both the powers of Light & Dark as his aid. That child…is you Kenny…and the Light & Dark energy of aid…is us two."

Kenny's worried face soon lifted. "So…do you mean that I have some kind of new powers now because of you two!"

"To put it in simple terms…YES."

Kenny stood in silence and slight shock for a while before he leapt up from off the ground; yelling a huge 'WOOHOO!' that filled the surroundings with his voice.

"That's f---ing awesome!"

"Well what did you expect? Didn't you even notice how we look now? Because we three are now alike in power, we're also alike in physical appearance."

Kenny walked forward to look at both Ageliss' and Divelia's face. He soon realised that they looked just like him, except for the fact that both of them were 4 years older than what Kenny was.

"Woahhhh……so that's what I'm gunna look like in 4 years?……f---ing awesome!"

Thirty more minutes had passed. Kenny and his two new 'alter ego' looking friends were walking back the other way back up the snowy path.

"Well now that we've told you everything Kenny, there's just one more thing for us to show you."

Ageliss and Divelia suddenly vanished. Kenny was shocked and stood on the side of the path looking left and right.

"Hey, where did you guys go? Hey…hello?"

"Don't worry Kenny, we're here!"

Kenny turned back around but no one was there. "Where's here?"

"Here's here!"

"Where?"

"RIGHT HERE KENNY…inside you."

"Huh? Inside me!"

"That's right. Technically speaking…we're mentally and spiritually inside you. Because of this, we can talk to you and you can talk to us at anytime; just as long as we're in here though."

"COOL…God I can't wait to show the guys this…they'll be so jealous."

"Ummmm…I don't think that's such a good idea Kenny. You must remember that since we took your human form and we are from another dimension after all, you're the only one who can see us. Nobody else can see, hear or touch us at all."

"Nobody?"

"NOBODY!"

"Alright cool…I guess that'll be nice in a way."

"Kenny! KENNY…DUDE!"

Kenny turned around to see Stan, Kyle and Cartman waving at him; already starting to walk up to him from a distance. "GUYS!"

Kenny walked over to where the other three boys were stood. "Hey guys, what's up?"

"Dude…Kenny; we've been looking all over for you. We were really worried about you man."

"Oh sorry guys, I errrrr guess I wanted some fresh air so I must have got up early and went too far on my walk."

"A walk…God Kenny you're so stupid."

"Shut up Cartman…at least he's done more exercise than you fat boy!"

"ANYWAY…I feel alright now. I don't know why I felt the way I did but I'm all better now."

"You sure dude…you still don't look good."

"Nah, I'll be fine."

"OK…come on, we three saw some moving vans parked outside a house; we think a new family or sumin are moving in."

"Cool…let's go see!"

And with that said, the four boys walked back down the path and back towards the residential area of the town. But now Kenny knew who and what he was now; he was no ordinary kid, he was now different in more than one way. And it would be soon that he was to learn just how different he was and what exactly Ageliss and Divelia had done to him that night.


	3. Meet The Hunters

**Chapter 3: Meet the Hunters**

The four boys didn't want to stand out in the open where they'd grab so much attention. So they decided to hide in a bunch of bushes over the road from the house they were looking at.

"So which car is it?" Kyle asked.

"It's that big people carrier thing on the driveway. That's the one that's got the people in it." Stan replied; brushing away a few branches and bits of bush that were in his way.

As the four boys peaked their eyes through gaps in the bushes, they could see that the front garden was covered in boxes and large storage cases. As a dozen older men started moving the furniture into the house, the front door of the main vehicle swung open and out stepped the first member of what seemed to be the new family; a 24 year old lad by the name of Josh Hunter. Josh was your average looking mid-20's guy with short brown hair and blue eyes. He walked over to one of the mover workers.

"Excuse me, are you Josh Hunter?" The man asked.

"Yep, that's me."

"Will you just sign this document here just for proof of our work here."

"Yeh sure."

Although they were hiding on the other side of the road, the four boys could clearly hear everything that was going on.

"Holy Christ dude!" Stan spoke

"Yeh I know…a British person!" Kyle replied

Josh was indeed British. To be more precise, Josh Hunter was 26 years old and was from Birmingham, England. Like him, all the other people in the car were also British. And it was at this time, that the other 4 people in the car stepped out into the opening.

First out was a 15 year old boy with longish short brown hair and green eyes by the name of Andrew Hunter. Holding what looked like an MP3 Player in his hand; he placed it in his brown jean pocket and started to carry the boxes of his stuff to his room in the house. Next out was a 13 year old boy with short black hair and blue eyes who took the name of James Hunter. Stretching his arms out from exhaustion and tiredness, he rubbed his eyes and started to move his boxes up to his bedroom as well. So far, so good and normal. But the next person out of the car was a more younger person. The third to step out of the car was a 9 year old girl with long light brown hair and green eyes by the name of Sarah Hunter.

"Woah dude…look at her."

"Man she's so f---ing cute!"

"You can say that again Kenny, hey what do you think about her Kyle?………Kyle!" Stan turned to Kyle. But was surprised to see that Kyle's face had frozen; as if he was stuck looking at something. That 'something' was the girl Sarah. "Errrrr…Kyle, you OK?"

Kyle remained silent and continued to look at Sarah; having some kind of romantic love song looping in his head as he looked at Sarah. He smiled and his eyes closed slightly. The other three easily spotted what was wrong with Kyle and it seemed as if Kyle had fallen in love with Sarah…just now.

"Dude…are you in love with her?"

"Oh man……guys…she is so pretty." Kyle spoke in the tone that indicated he was in a deep world of love. He couldn't take his eyes off of her. It was as if just that first look of her had attracted his feelings towards her.

Meanwhile back over at the house, Sarah picked up one of her boxes and looked back at the car.

"Come on bro……are yer' getting out of the car or not?" Sarah spoke in her sweet gentle voice.

And finally, last out of the car was also a 10 year old person; a young boy with dark blond hair and brown eyes by the name of Maxwell Hunter; not Max, but Maxwell. The boy was wearing a cap at the time so only a few bits of his hair were sticking and popping out of the sides in small blades of hair.

"Woah dude…I wonder why he looks so pissed off?"

"I don't know dude…we better keep hiding here for all our sakes."

Maxwell looked annoyed. He wasn't smiling and he had that look on his face that could of suggested that he was about to do something bad. Although he was a good lad, there was something in the emotions of his face that indicated something was wrong; whether it was with him or not.

"So…here we are. This was what those gits back home said was South Park." Maxwell spoke with his hands in his jean pockets and looking around the area slightly.

"Looks like it Maxwell. I'm so glad we're finally here."

"Well I'm not. Out of all the countries we could have moved to…we had to move to this fucking place." Maxwell sarcastically replied; crossing his arms as he spoke.

"Oh come on Maxwell…are you still upset about what happened?"

"Not upset…ANGRY."

"Maxwell…you can't just keep pointing all the blame at everybody in this country. It wasn't their fault."

"No, but it was this country where that bastard was born."

"Come on brother yer' just being silly now. Just give the people here a chance alright, maybe the people in this town are nice and different. Please…for me?"

Maxwell looked at his sister Sarah and smiled. "Oh alright…for you…and the other three of course, we're a family now and I'm not going to let this family get separated."

Suddenly, Josh popped his head through the open window and looked down at the two. "OY YOU TWO. Will you come upstairs for a minute just so we can decide what bedroom you guys want."

"Sure Josh, whatever." Maxwell replied. As he walked into the house, Sarah picked up the box she was carrying again.

"Right that's it. I'm gunna go over and introduce myself." Kyle spoke; getting ready to stand back up.

"What? Dude are you crazy?" Stan replied; trying to pull Kyle back down to the ground.

"Stan…I gotta go over there. I can't just NOT introduce myself." Kyle stood up and walked over to the house, or more precisely, to where Sarah was. The other three watched on.

"He's so in love with her…it's so obvious." Cartman spoke.

Kyle stopped just behind Sarah and twiddled with his fingers for a while. Sarah didn't know there was someone behind her.

"Errrrrrr……hi." Kyle spoke; much to the surprise of Sarah. She turned around to see a young little boy with a big green hat on and of course, the first American to say 'hi' to her.

"Hi there……didn't hear you coming there?"

"Yeh well…I was just y'know…standing over there and spotted all these moving trucks and ummmm thought I'd just come over and say 'hi'."

"Oh well that's very sweet of you, thanks."

"No problem……I'm Kyle Broflovski by the way."

"Well nice to meet you Kyle, I'm Sarah Hunter by the way. As you can probably tell from my accent, I'm not from this country." Sarah chuckled.

"Yeh…you're from errrrr…England aren't you?"

"Wow, good guess. You're really smart." Kyle's face went slightly red and the smile on his face grew gradually. "Well I better start unpacking my things. I guess I start school on Monday just like you and all the other kids here too so ummmm…I'll see yer' later……sometime hopefully."

"Yeh…see yer……later." Kyle watched Sarah disappear into the house; a bright wide smile on his face and red blushes starting to slowly fade away.

Kyle began to make his way down the sidewalk of the road where the three other boys soon followed him.

Meanwhile, back in the house, Sarah rushed up the stairs to meet with her brother and Josh.

"Hope you don't mind Sarah. Maxwell chose the room with the window facing the road."

"That's fine Josh; I like a room that views the garden anyway."

"Good…well I'm gunna go help James and Andrew with their stuff. You two OK with unpacking everything?"

"Yeh, I'm sure me and Maxwell will be alright."

Josh smiled back and made his way back downstairs. Sarah turned back around and walked up to her brother who was leaning his head on the cool glass of the bedroom window. Maxwell was watching the four boys walking down the street sidewalk with what looked like an annoyed but confused look.

"Who was that boy you were talking to outside Sarah?" Maxwell asked; still staring out of the window.

"Oh it was just some kid called Kyle."

"What did he want!"

"He just said 'hi'; that's all."

"JUST 'hi'?" Maxwell seemed to pressurize his sister into giving a real answer.

"Maxwell, why are you in such a bad mood today? All I'm doing is giving you an answer."

Maxwell sighed and apologized. The tone in his voice dropped. "I'm sorry Sarah. It's just……y'know, what's happened lately over the past few months; what with us leaving our home, school, home city and everything else. I'm just not used to it yet."

"Don't worry Maxwell, you will. I know you're still upset about what happened with mum and dad……but we've got a new family now. Hey, I'm sure Josh, Andy and James will be just as loving and friendly as mum and dad were."

Sarah put her arm around Maxwell's shoulder and looked straight at him with a smile on her face. Maxwell smiled back; breaking away from Sarah and beginning to unpack his stuff. Sarah walked out of his bedroom and within a minute, Maxwell picked out an old family photo. Just by looking at it, it seemed to slightly anger Maxwell. It wasn't the picture that frustrated, but it was the memory linked to that picture that angered him even more.

A few hours later, Stan, Kyle, Cartman & Kenny were playing a short game of basketball in the local park area near their homes. Cartman as usual was trying to show-off but was always stopped by either Stan or Kyle; much to the disliking of Cartman. Kenny seemed to stand by himself in a further area of the basketball court.

"Come on Kyle admit it……you've got a crush on that girl haven't you?" Stan asked; pushing for an answer from Kyle.

"Guys…I don't have a crush on her…I just got a little………nervous that's all."

"Nervous! HA, face it Jewboy…you love her and you know it." Cartman replied; trying to get past Kyle with the ball.

"I don't love her Cartman, END OF STORY!"

Whilst this conversation was taking place, Kenny started to feel a slight twitching itching feeling just behind his shoulders on his back. He didn't know what it was; although it was quite a strange sensation considering he had never felt anything like it.

"Errrrr guys……you in there?" Kenny whispered quietly. There was a brief silence. Kenny tried again in a slightly louder voice. "Guys…you there?"

"What did you say Kenny?" Kyle asked; at which the other boys looked at Kenny.

"Oh errrrr nothing, I didn't say anything."

The three boys turned back around and resumed their game. Suddenly, Kenny heard a quiet voice in his head.

"Kenny……did you call us?" Ageliss replied; speaking telepathically to Kenny from inside his body.

"Yeh…guys……I'm getting a really strange buzzing warm feeling on my back just beneath my shoulders. Is that you doing that?" Kenny replied; trying to focus on both speaking to Ageliss and concentrating on the game that was still being played.

"Oh don't worry about that Kenny…" Divelia butted in. "…we're just making a few…adjustments to your body; you'll see soon enough."

"Adjustments? Well alright……but don't kill me!"

As the inside of Kenny's mind went silent, Kenny got back to playing basketball with the other three. As the sun was beginning to set upon the horizon, the sky turned a very mystical orange and blue colour. A few hours passed and back at their new home, Maxwell along with the rest of his family had finished unpacking all their stuff. As Maxwell sat down on his new bed, he looked around his room; every piece of furniture and every single object he had brought with him from his old home was now placed in their rightful positions in his bedroom. His room was a navy blue colour and had a fanlight hanging from the ceiling; making a quiet buzzing and flicking sound as the fan blades swung round and round.

Maxwell had hung a British flag that he had up on the wall next to where his precious Guitar was resting up against the wall. He sat on his bed looking down at the floor; in a world of deep thought and memories. Some of the more darker and colder memories in his young past life were flowing through his head and he couldn't get them to stop; it was something that had been occurring for the past few months now.

Josh knocked on his door.

"Hey Maxwell, dinner's out; you coming down?"

"Huh………oh…yeh, just give me a minute." Maxwell looked down at the floor again. Josh knew something was up and sat down by Maxwell's side.

"OK, what's wrong? You've been like this ever since we left Britain, what's up?"

Maxwell sighed. "Nothing…it's nothing. I'm just not used to this kind of place yet."

"OK……if you say so." Josh replied in a very caring and kind tone.

Back downstairs, the other three; Sarah, Andrew and James were all talking about Maxwell. His negative mood all day had attracted everybody's attention and it was starting to concern everyone.

"I hope Maxwell gets along with the other kids at this school on Monday; I don't want to see him not make any new friends here as well." James spoke; as all three were sat around a dining room table.

"What's up with him anyway; he seems very annoyed at us for some reason?" Andrew added.

"No…he's not annoyed at us……it's this place I think he's annoyed at." Sarah replied; taking a sip at her drink.

"This place? You mean like……this country; America?"

"Yeh…I still think he's very upset and angry about what happened to mum and dad that day."

"Surely he can't blame that on the whole country!"

"Well Maxwell's not had a very good liking to American's over the past few years. But hopefully, me and him will enjoy school here; maybe it'll be a lot better than school back home."

"Let's hope so Sarah…let's hope so."


	4. First Day Of American School

**Chapter 4: First Day Of American School**

Monday morning at South Park Elementary. Maxwell & Sarah were sitting outside the Principal's office; waiting for their 'Parental Guardian' Josh to finish speaking to Principal Victoria. Josh and the principal were discussing two different subjects regarding himself and the two kids.

"Well I don't see any problems here; you seem like the perfect PE teacher that we need at this school. Although if you don't mind me asking……what kind of PE background do you have."

"Oh right…well I played for Birmingham City FC for a few years until I was about 22 when I broke my leg and that in turn ended my playing career. Since then, I took a few teaching courses in certain sports including baseball, basketball and your version of football."

"Wow that sounds great. Well not the leg breaking bit but everything else sounds fine to me. Welcome to South Park Elementary."

"Thanks, I'm glad I actually got the job; I've been worrying about this for quite a while." Josh replied; shaking Principal Victoria's hand as he spoke.

"Anyway, moving on, the kids you look after; Maxwell and Sarah Hunter, I'm sure they'll be able to fit into this school just fine so there's need to worry about that."

"Great……so where do they go now? I'm not really good with the whole American school system so I'm a tad confused with it all."

"Well if you just take them down the corridor and look for a door that says Forth Grade: Mrs. Garrison; that'll be their class for this year. All the children in that class are already in there and waiting for the teacher to arrive so if you just take them to the class, I'm sure they'll be fine from there."

"Brilliant, thanks a lot." Josh stood back up and left the room. As he opened the door, Maxwell and Sarah immediately looked at him; requesting both answers to the questions that they wanted answering so badly.

"Well…did it all go well?"

"Yep……I'm the new young PE teacher here and you're both in this school as well."

"Brilliant!" Sarah replied with a huge smile on her face. Maxwell just raised a smile, but was still fairly happy so far that things had turned out good for him and his sister. As Josh took them both down to their classroom, Maxwell looked around at his new school's environment. Notice boards, bright wall colours, lockers; all of which Maxwell had never seen before in real life back home.

"Right this is it…'Mr. Garrison; 4th Grade'. Heh, someone's wrote an 's' after 'Mr.'. Teh…kids." Josh smiled; suddenly hearing someone shout him from the other end of the corridor.

"Hey, are you the parent of these two."

"Oh good, that must be him now." Turning around to view the teacher, he was stunned into shock to see the man's voice that was calling him was actually coming from what looked like a woman. And there in front of him stood Mrs. Garrison.

"I was told by the principal that you were bringing these two into school today for their first day."

"Errrrrrr…yeh. Yeh, I just came to drop them off and then I'll be going. I'm the new PE teacher here so I errrrrrrr…" Josh couldn't keep his focus straight. He was so confused into whether the person he was speaking to was either a man or a woman…or both. "I errr better get going – I've got a bit of paperwork to sort out back home."

As Josh walked back down the corridor; looking back now and again with shock on his face, Mrs. Garrison led Sarah and Maxwell into the classroom. The room fell silent; all the children began to look at the two new kids in quite surprise.

"Alright class, now today we have two new people joining us. Now they've flown all the way from England and are new to South Park so try and be nice and helpful to them until they settle in……even though I know you probably won't and you'll act like a bunch of retards anyway. Now then you two, would you like to introduce yourself to the class."

Maxwell and Sarah looked at one another to see who was going to be the one who would introduce themselves. Sarah stepped forward and began.

"Kyle check it out, it's your girlfriend." Cartman spoke; teasing Kyle as he usually does.

"Shut up Cartman, she's not my girlfriend."

Kenny meanwhile was trying to focus on two things at once – Sarah speaking and the two other forms of him speaking away in his head.

"Kenny…you are hearing all this aren't you." Ageliss asked.

"Yeh yeh yeh don't worry about……I think I would have heard you two saying everything you did say considering you've been going on about it for the past f---ing hour."

"We're just making sure you know how to use all these powers and abilities we're giving you. Remember, they're not as normal as you think y'know."

"OK, whatever."

Sarah cleared her throat and began speaking while Maxwell stood behind her with his arms crossed.

"Ermmm, hi everybody…my name's Sarah…and this is my brother Maxwell…"

"Hi." Maxwell quickly added in.

"…we've both moved from Manchester which is in England and we really like this place and we hope we'll be able to enjoy our time here."

Maxwell rolled his eyes as Sarah stepped back. Kyle couldn't keep his eyes off Sarah – smiling at the sight of her and focusing on nothing but her.

"Alright you two, would you like to take your seats in the class and we can get started."

There were only two spare seats in the class so there wasn't much choice for the two. Spotting Kyle at the corner of her eye, Sarah decided to sit in the seat which was positioned directly between Stan and Kyle – but closer to Kyle's seat. Maxwell was left with the seat that was to the other side of Stan's seat. Sarah looked over at Kyle.

"Nice seeing you in this class Kyle. I'm glad already I have a familiar face in here that I've seen before. Hope you don't mind me sitting next to yer'."

"Oh……no…not at all." Kyle replied; smiling back at Sarah who smiled also. Maxwell looked over at the two with a slight frown on his face.

"Hey you, what your name; I need to know someone in here too after all?"

"Who me…my name's Stan."

"Stan huh? Say, who's that boy my sister's talking to?"

"Oh that's Kyle. Don't mind him…he's cool. But just to let you know, he's the only Jewish kid in this class so don't rip on him for being Jewish."

"Oh……I see."

A couple of hours later, recess had arrived. Sarah and Maxwell were familiar with the school system of having a short playtime break back home and were quick into adapting to calling it 'recess' instead of 'playtime'. The two walked out into the playground with their hands in their jacket pockets and their winter hats still firmly on their heads as they always had been since they had arrived.

"This school's so nice huh Maxwell? It reminds me of home in a way."

"Yeh I guess so. Listen Sarah, what was that 'Kyle' boy saying to you when you were talking to him in class earlier."

"Oh Kyle? He was just telling me about the school and stuff. Plus he said he'd help me…I mean us…out if we got lost or have any problems around here…what a kind person."

"Yeh whatever." Maxwell wasn't too impressed with Kyle's generosity – since he had a slight theory on why he was being so nice to them both, or more in particular…Sarah.

Meanwhile on the other side of the playground, the four boys were standing and watching the two as they were talking to one another.

"So their last name's Hunter."

"Yeh, she said she moved here with her brother and three others – she says they're all living together like a family…even though they're not."

"They're not a family? You mean they're immigrants or what?"

"No they're still deemed a family…just not y'know physically related. Sarah said the oldest member of the family, Josh is their Guardian."

"Guardian?"

"Yeh…like a Parent but not a Parent."

"God that makes him sound like sort of f---ing angel." Kenny replied at which the boys laughed.

"Well anyway, come on, let's go play football." Stan spoke; picking up the football that was lying on the snow.

"You guys can, I'm gunna go and talk some more to those two."

"Why?" Cartman asked; slightly convinced by what he believed to be Kyle's reason.

"I just want to talk to them a bit more y'know – make them feel welcome and stuff."

"OK fine Kyle, we're gunna go play football. But if you wanna go and talk to your girlfriend and his brother then that's fine." Cartman replied; at which the three other boys walked off in another direction. Kyle began to walk towards the two.

"Sarah I'm gunna go and see if I can find the cafeteria just so we know where we're going on. I'll be back in a minute."

"OK brother, see yer' later."

As Maxwell walked off back into the main building, Kyle stopped just behind Sarah.

"Hey Sarah."

Sarah jumped up in shock and laughed slightly as she realised that it was Kyle who was stood behind her. Turning back around, she smiled. "Kyle…you surprised me there."

"Heh, sorry 'bout that – just came over to say 'hi' again. How do you like our school?"

"It's really like it. I never thought America would be like this – it's a nice change from the surroundings of where we used to live."

"Well remember if y'know…you want help about anything 'round here, I'm always here to help."

"That's very kind of you Kyle, thanks."

Suddenly, Kyle's eye was attracted to something glittering just below Sarah's neck. It looked like a necklace of some kind. "Hey, what's that that's shining?"

Sarah looked down and immediately realised what Kyle was talking about. "Oh you mean this……" She pulled out a silver necklace that had been hiding under her jacket. "My father gave it to me when I was younger."

Kyle looked at it closely. He noticed a familiar symbol hanging from a part of the chain. "Hey, isn't that the Star of David that's hanging from your necklace?"

"Yeh, yes it is. I guess you know as much as the religion as I do."

"What do you mean?"

"Ah well…me and Maxwell are both Jewish…well I say Jewish, I mean half-Jewish."

"Really?" Kyle's smile rose even higher. Another Jewish kid in the school had now made him really happy…especially since it was a girl too. "I'm Jewish too."

"Really…wow! I guess me and Maxwell don't have to worry about being alone in this school now. Back home we were the only Jewish kids in our school. Our parents couldn't afford a private Jewish school for us both, so we both had to go to an all Christian school. Although we are half of each, we still felt uncomfortable being there."

"Yeh, I know what you mean. But don't worry about it, you and your brother have got me as well to keep you company."

Sarah smiled. "Awwwwww…you're so caring Kyle – that means so much to me." And just as Kyle was about to say 'see yer later', Sarah stepped up to him and lovingly (in a way) kissed him on the cheek; much to Kyle's surprise. Sarah said goodbye and walked off. Kyle remained still – turning the shocked look on his face into a great big smile with blushes of red all over his face.

Around the corner, Maxwell was standing in the shadows of the building. He had just seen everything that had just happened between them two; even Sarah's kiss to Kyle. He walked off with a frown on his face.

Stan, Cartman and Kenny were deep into their game of football. But just as Kenny grabbed the ball from Stan, he looked at his shoulders and was shocked to see a huge pair of wings had suddenly appeared on the back side of his shoulders. Screaming in shock, he dropped the ball and fell back; head shaking and arms shivering with slight fear.

"Kenny what's wrong?"

"Arghhh…c-c-c-can't you see them! I'VE GOT WINGS ON MY SHOULDERS!"

"Aw-oh, Kenny's been sniffing too much of the superglue again."

"Kenny what are you talking about, you don't have any wings o your shoulders." Stan replied; trying to keep Kenny calm.

"I DO…THEY'RE RIGHT HERE, CAN'T YOU F---ING SEE THEM?"

"Errrrrr no…Kenny, they're not real…you're just imagining them. It's just…"

"NO…NOOOO! THIS IS ALL TOO REAL!" Kenny ran off in total shock and confusion.

"KENNY! Where are yer' going?" Stan shouted as Kenny ran off in fear.

Kenny ran off out of the school grounds and into a hidden area with tress all around. He pulled up the sleeves of his parka jacket and was horrified to see the strange tattoos on his arms glowing with bright white and cyan coloured light. Worried about what this was, he took off his whole jacket and stood wearing nothing but his usual white brief underpants. He looked down to see his whole body covered in lines of white and cyan coloured light. His arms, legs, chest, feet and the back of his hands were all radiating light and the wings on the back of his shoulders were bright white in colour – as strong as bird wings and as soft as clouds.

Kenny started breathing hard with fear all over his face.

"Do not be afraid Kenny…this is what we have been telling you about all this time."

"What? That I've turned into some kind of human…half-bird half-lighthouse thing."

"No…that you now have the powers of Light & Dark in the palm of your hands and in the soul of your very being. Back in your classroom, you were thinking about light-related powers and strength correct?"

"Errrrr yeh."

"Well, this is the result of your thinking. Whenever you want to use your new light and dark powers, all you have to do is concentrate and focus your mind on becoming your new forms. As long as you do this……our powers are yours. Why don't you try and have a go at flying for yourself."

"Oh alright……here goes."

Kenny closed his eyes and began to concentrate. He focused as hard as he could but it looked like nothing was happening. Then suddenly…his bare feet started to lift off the snowy ground. Gradually, Kenny was getting higher and higher off the ground until he was as high as the top of the trees. Kenny slowly opened his eyes and looked down – he could barely see his own footprints. He looked to the side with a huge smile on his face.

"WOOOOOOHOOOOOOOO!" And with positivity flowing his mind and body, he shot off and began flying through the air using the new pair of wings he now had. He was loving and enjoying every second of it – dipping up and down and flying around every obstacle that stood in his way around the forest area that was he was in. And after all this time, Kenny had finally become the very thing that Ageliss and Divelia wanted him to become……Kenny – the boy with the ultimate powers of Light & Dark in his possession.


	5. A Hunter's Tale

**Chapter 5: A Hunter's Tale**

_Wow, she kissed me……she actually kissed me. _That was the only thing that was on Kyle's mind as he walked home from school that same day. Stan and Cartman had gone off somewhere to find Kenny so Kyle had once again been left on his own. But for once, Kyle didn't mind – he was too busy filling his emotions with utter delight at the fact that Sarah Hunter had actually kissed him. Although he wasn't happy about it in a romantic sense, it was just the fact that someone seemed to like him to a particular level that had him sealed in a moment of smiles.

It wasn't until later up the street that he realised that in order to get home, he would have to walk past the Hunter's house. He knew that this was the perfect opportunity to talk to Sarah – but about what? He wanted to say something but his young, caring mind hadn't thought that far ahead. _Jesus, how can I tell her that I thank her for kissing me…no wait, that doesn't sound right! _He had never felt and thought like this before for a girl he had seen or met. But it would seem that Sarah had triggered a blossoming of happiness for a girl inside Kyle's emotions.

He arrived outside the house – small collections of grass blades popping out slightly from under the soft snow. As he was about to walk to the door, he noticed the garage door was open – unlikely it was accidentally left open but more of the fact that there was somebody in there. As Kyle popped his head around the mountain of travel boxes and items, he saw Sarah – tidying things up and appearing to clean what looked like a grand master piano. Taking a deep breath, Kyle walked around the pile and coughed – much to Sarah's surprise to see Kyle standing in the entrance to the garage.

Sarah had been polishing the piano for some time now and she had her back to Kyle so there wasn't any chance she could see or even hear Kyle.

"Hi Kyle – didn't hear you come in there."

"Yeh, sorry 'bout that. Ummmmm……how come you weren't in school this afternoon – you seemed to just leave all of a sudden?"

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I should have told you…"

"Nah, it's alright – I've done it before."

The two laughed slightly.

"Well…I've been cleaning and polishing this grand piano of mine."

"Woah…you mean _this piano_ is yours."

"Yeh…" Sarah started to walk around it – gazing at its sleak shining surface and placing her hand near the keys. "My mother gave it to me when I was younger as a gift. She played it throughout her life and when I was born, she decided to give this to me as a passing-on present. Y'know…my mother gave me it, _her_ mother gave _her_ it, her mother gave her it and so on." She sat down on the seat and placed her hands over the keys - hovering and about to play. "I play this thing every day – it's my way of remembering mum and saying thank you."

Sarah started playing. The smooth, soft and silky-like sound of a slow piano melody was calming to listen to. Kyle smiled as he watched Sarah play a short little tune on the piano. As soon as she had finished, Kyle clapped gently and smiled again.

"Wow…that was beautiful. I'm sure yer' mom'd be proud of you playing that."

Sarah, placing the cover board back over the keys, turned to Kyle and replied back.

"Yeh……she would have." Looking down at the ground and sighing slightly.

There was a moment of silence for a few seconds. Sarah continued unpacking what looked like musical equipment out of cases and boxes and placed them in specific areas of the garage. Kyle merely stood there – watching Sarah's every move and not knowing what else to say.

"Errrrrr…you don't mind if I just stand here for a bit do you?"

"What?! No, not at all…I like company anyway. You can help me with unpacking all this stuff if you like."

"Yeh, I'd love to." Kyle replied; smiling back and walking over to help Sarah.

Kyle placed his bag down by the side of the garage wall and walked over to where Sarah was knelt. And it didn't take long for Kyle to find something that caught his eye. A few handfuls of small items later, Kyle spotted a photo of Sarah and the other people who lived with Sarah. The photo looked recent so there was no change in appearance and looks.

"Hey, what's this?"

Sarah looked at the photo Kyle had held of in his hand. It didn't take her long to realise what photo it was and thus, she smiled.

"Oh that……it's a recent photo of me and the other four lads performing together at a community concert – they always hold silly little things like this back in Manchester, me and Maxwell really like it. Before we finally left Britain to move here, we decided to play one more time in the town centre alongside other people."

"You mean…you're in a band?"

"Yep, I certainly am…all five of us are……_The Hunters_"

Kyle suddenly became intrigued in the subject. A new girl who he _seemed to like_ who's just moved here – telling him she was and still is part of a band; something Kyle wished he could share with in terms of similarities.

"So tell me…who plays what in the band."

Sarah pulled out a photo album. The photos were of separate members of the band including her. As Kyle would have guessed, the members of the band were the same people who lived in this house – they all contributed to whatever music this band plays. Sarah took out the first photo; it was a picture of Josh.

"That's Josh, our Parental Guardian technically. He plays the drums and might as say, very well too. He's a nice and cool guy to look up to – always putting others first before himself and very caring." The next photo was quick into view. "Next we have James – the wild one of the group. He used to be a young DJ before but he's learned to play the Acoustic Guitar now. He can play, sing, rap and work synthesisers and other stuff like a bloody pro, but don't let him near explosives though, he's attracted to anything he thinks is fun." The third photo was of an older lad looking down and closing his eyes whilst playing another type of Guitar. "Then there's Andrew, or Andy as he's sometimes called. An absolute whiz at Bass Guitar and fashion too."

"Bass Guitar? Hey, I can play the Bass."

"Really…cool. I love the Bass Guitar – most people I've met who play Bass are cute and very nice to be with.

_Well I hope you can add me to that list _is what Kyle thought in his head as he continued to smile and look at Sarah. Placing the photo to the back of the pile, she finally showed a photo of herself.

"And then there's me – Sarah Hunter. I can play the Piano, keyboard and a bit of the Violin too. Although, I'm only playing something when the other lads don't decide to make one of those crazy rock or indie tunes." The final photo was shown. It was of Maxwell looking the most serious of the five. "Finally, my brother Maxwell. He's learned to play all three different types of Guitar and he's very serious about music – he really gets into it if yer' give him an opportunity."

Sarah placed the photos back in the album and put them to one side.

"I'd love to hear all of you play together. I used to be in a band once – well I say band and I say once, but still, it'd be cool to hear you. Who sings…if you do sing?"

"Mostly me and my brother – but not at the same time though."

Kyle laughed softly "But the other three provide backing vocals and stuff so technically we all do it. We all play instruments and we all sing too."

_God, I'd love to hear her sing. I bet she has the sweetest voice in the World. _Kyle was so interested in this subject; he was thrown into an emotional state of utter excitement.

"I bet your dad Josh must be proud of you huh?"

Suddenly, Sarah's smile dropped "What? Oh no…Josh isn't my dad."

"I thought you said he was your Parental Guardian."

"Yeh, _Guardian; _which isn't a parent, he's just someone who looks after us four."

"So then, where are your parents – you must have parents. I would have thought they'd be here with you too."

Sarah stood back up and walked to a far side of the garage next to where Josh's drum kit was positioned. Kyle was confused. He wasn't sure whether he had said something wrong or not but he wanted to find out why Sarah wasn't smiling anymore. He walked over to her – still with Sarah's back to him.

"Is something wrong Sarah?"

Sarah turned around to face Kyle. She opened her eyes again slowly and looked at him. "Kyle……there's something you should know about me and my brother that I didn't want to tell anybody about."

"Sure……what is it?"

**Flashback To 10 Months Ago**

The hospital waiting area was cold with fear and worry. Maxwell and Sarah felt a chill crawl down their spines like some kind of scary insect that a young child would dream of. They both held each other's hand – Maxwell's left and Sarah's right. They were hoping that everything would be alright – everything would return back to what it was. But the more they hoped, the more they were cursed with the sight of that horrible incident in their minds. About 20 metres away were their parents – each on separate lives and connected up to emergency hospital equipment and machines. Mr. and Mrs. Hunter had been both shot at by an unidentifiable man only a couple of hours ago.

The Hunter family had been to a local cinema to watch a film and were walking back home when from nowhere, a masked stranger jumped out from the creeping darkness and ordered them both to hand over their money and other valuables. The man was holding a gun and looked as if he was about to shoot. As the two rushed as fast as they could to hand over their stuff to the man in a clam fashion, the man was getting more and more stressed and worried. And just out of random basic, he shot both of them and ran off with what stuff he managed to get. As Sarah knelt by their parents' sides and called 999 (the emergency number in Britain for Police and an Ambulance service), Maxwell started down the dark street in the direction of where the man had ran off in. There was a concentrated look of anger on his face – Maxwell knew he would have been able to identify the man if given the chance. The images and sounds were constantly repeating in his head: blonde hair, brown eyes, medium build and most importantly of all, having a strong American accent indicating this man was from America.

"Do you think they'll be alright?" Sarah asked in a worried tone of voice.

"Well we'll have to think so won't we? Until we know for sure, all we can do is hope, prey and trust the people who work here – even if the British Health system in this country is shit."

Sarah laughed softly and looked at Maxwell who looked back at her with a slight smile on his face. The two leaned their bodies on one another and held firm grip of each other's hand.

The minutes passed. After hours of waiting, a leading doctor walked out and came across to the two kids. Maxwell's and Sarah's tired eyes soon leaped to life at the sight of the Doctor.

"Well?" They both asked – expecting it had all turned out alright.

The Doctor looked at both of them. He knew what he was about to say would shatter their hearts and erase their smiles off their faces pretty quickly.

The Doctor sighed slowly and looked at them both with an apologetic look.

"I'm sorry……we did the best we could…but……I'm afraid, it's bad news…………I'm so sorry."

As the smiles slowly disappeared off their faces, Maxwell looked down at the ground in horror – his face as white as chalk. Sarah looked at the Doctor.

"No……no no……NO! It can't be true."

"I'm so so sorry. They passed away just a few minutes ago."

Sarah slowly and progressively started to cry. Hands over her face and tears flowing down her face, her cries could be heard all around the area of the hospital.

Maxwell on the other hand was still in shock, his open palm hands soon turned to clenched fists and he started to shake slightly. His face turning slightly red and his face building up with anger, he shot up out of his seat and yelled with every drop of voice strength he had and slammed his right fist straight into the glass table – completely destroying and turning it into a pile of thousands of shining white glass pieces.

Maxwell stopped moving and looked down at the ground. He too started crying as his right hand started bleeding from all the glass cuts he had now got. The Doctor placed his arm around Maxwell to comfort him. He stood Maxwell back up. "Come on son, let's go and clean that up." The Doctor guided Maxwell down the corridor. Maxwell looked back at his sister who was slumped on the seat and in a depressed state.

Ten minutes later, Maxwell stood in a section of corridor near a registry desk. He was talking to the Doctor now having his right hand covered in white bandage material. Suddenly, Maxwell's mobile phone began to ring – much to his surprise. Walking to a private part of the corridor for him to speak, he looked at the phone's display screen – it didn't have a name on it, meaning no one he knew was ringing.

"Hello?"

"Hello there……your name's Maxwell right?" A stranger's voice replied.

"Who is this?"

"Hey, don't worry, I'm not like one of those weird callers yer' see in films or anything." For a voice Maxwell had never heard before, this person was talking in a normal and casual manner – as if he and Maxwell knew one another.

"Look…who are you? How come you know my phone number?"

"Alright alright…my name's Josh…Josh Hunter."

"Josh Hunter? OK Josh…how did you get my number then?"

"I was an old student of your dad's PE lessons in school. Your dad was a PE teacher correct?"

"Errrrr yeh."

"Well we met only a few months ago and he said he wanted me to talk to you. He says you're quite the good Guitar player."  
"Look I'm in no mood at the moment to be talking like this alright? I'm in the hospital at the moment and my parents have both…"

"…died – I know, I was there."

"You…you were here?"

"Yeh…I'm on my way out of Manchester now – I'm on the motorway going out of the city and heading East. Look Maxwell, I didn't call up to talk like friends too, I have a little proposition and offer for you and your sister."

Maxwell didn't know whether to put the phone down or continue listening, but his curiosity let him continue on.

"An offer? Of what exactly?"

"For the past year, I've been looking for people who play instruments to come together and go on a 'mission' shall we say."

"A mission, alright now you're starting to sound like a bloody idiot here."

"Please, just let me finish Maxwell. I've found 3 members so far: me and 2 Guitarists. Best of all, we're all called Hunter by our surname and we've all lost our parents……just like you and Sarah."

"Your……your parents have died too?"

"Yes……but my point is, I'm asking if you and your sister could attend a meeting I'm planning."

"Where?"

"The old Alers Warehouse in Leeds – it was the only non-owned cheap location I could find in this country. Please, your Guitar skills and your sister's piano and keyboard abilities are exactly what we're looking for. I and the other two will be waiting for you there. If you want to come, get the next possible train, taxi or whatever to Leeds right away. Trust me on this……your father would have wanted this for you right?"

The caller hung up and Maxwell closed his mobile phone. He looked over at Sarah who was getting care from a few of the nurses for being so upset. Maxwell looked down at the floor and breathed in – sighing and thinking about what they should do.

_Should we go or not? I wish what this was all about but I still have next to nothing. Should I even trust this guy? He says he knew my dad……but……is it true? Well……I guess there's only one way to find out._

**4 Days Later**

Maxwell and Sarah arrived at the old abandoned warehouse in Leeds. As they stepped out of the taxi, they looked around at the surroundings. It was nothing new – stretches of industrial building and dirty metallic structures that fuelled the city's functioning. As they walked into the warehouse, they were deeply unsure on what to expect. It was dimly lit inside and Maxwell was the one having to guide Sarah through. The two finally made it into a small underground room. In there, a single bulb light hung from the ceiling and in the room was three lads – the ones who were known as Andrew Hunter, James Hunter & Josh Hunter (but Maxwell and Sarah didn't know this yet)

"Ah yer' made it. Take a seat you two." Josh spoke – standing up and preparing himself for his big speech. Maxwell and Sarah took a seat and sat down.

"Alright you four, what I am about to propose to you is something that I've been thinking of for a long time now. It may work, it may not – but I assure you it'll be better than anything else you might get in this country after what's happened to all of us. Guys……and girl………I propose……that we form a music band."

"Yeh we know that – you told us on the phone."

"But I didn't tell you the second half. I propose we move to another country and try to break it in the music industry there."

"What?" Maxwell was more annoyed than confused. In his eyes, being forced to come all this way for a silly idea like this was ridiculous. "That is the most stupid idea I've heard ever."

"Is it though? Each of us has a great love for music. So why not have a shot of making it big in the industry ourselves."

"How the hell are we supposed to do that anyway? Firstly, we don't have somewhere to live in whatever country you're thinking of. Secondly, we're not signed to ANY label. And thirdly, we have no idea about what to do on anything you've just said."

"OK then. Firstly, we do have somewhere to live." Josh turned on a huge projector that was cleverly hidden behind him in the darkness. A picture was displayed – showing a house. "Yesterday, I bought this house for only £63,500 – it's a nice residential house in a small mountain town called South Park – which is in Colorado, America. Secondly, we don't need to be signed – there's loads of unsigned artists and musicians who make it big. Plus, I don't want to be related to all this musical shit that's out now. If we're going to be independent in our taste, then we have to be completely independent from any record label. And thirdly……you'll know what to do once you're given the right kind of inspiration."

"This is pathetic. This has to be the most stupid idea I've ever heard. There's more chance of this happening in some made-up story than it happening in real-life. Besides, what could you possibly have that'll 'inspire' us to say yes."

Josh dived his hand deep into his jean pocket. "Well…how's this for inspiration." He showed to the other four a cheque for £86,723. Maxwell was stunned.

"Where the hell did you get all that money?"

"My parents left it to me in their last will. They both worked for MI5 so they had plenty of money to save up and store. That along with the value of all their belongings comes to this value. I'm using the money to buy goods, furniture, food etc. for the new home – that is, if you're still up for it all."

The four looked at one another and looked back at Josh.

"Yeh, we're in."

"Count us two in too." Maxwell replied – now totally convinced that this was a great idea. It wasn't the money that had convinced him, but it was Josh's control of the money he had that had convinced him.

About twenty minutes later, Sarah and Maxwell were talking to the other two lads that had come, Andy and James. They had been getting to know one another and had been talking about each other's past and such.

"Alright you four, listen up. I've already bought the plane tickets. All I need now is for you four to pack up all the stuff and belongings you ant to take with you. Don't bother with things such as beds, tables, chairs etc. Just bring your own stuff – I'll take care of the main stuff for our new home. Once you've done that, meet up at my house in Stoke-on-Trent. I'll ring you guys up with all the other information for when and where exactly. OK……time to get packing. Yer' better all get your train and vehicle rides back to your own homes."

With that said, all five went their separate ways back to their own residential homes to begin packing. As the weeks past, Josh sorted out all the legal matters, but one thing was more important than anything else. In order to live together, Josh needed to make the ultimate choice and become the four Hunters' Parental Guardian. Although only in his mid-twenties, he was more than qualified age-wise to take up the task of looking after the four. Signing all the paperwork and agreeing to all terms, the final stage had been complete, the 5 had finally become a family – a family of different British origins but with similar background stories.

**Back To Present Time**

"And that's basically the whole story to how we got here." Sarah spoke – finishing her little story; confusing at times but specific into what really happened.


	6. Power To Power

**Chapter 6: Power To Power**

_Wow, I can't believe I'm actually flying. Oh God, this is so f---ing exciting! _Kenny couldn't keep his happiness under control – he was enjoying it too much to hide it all and stop. He had been able to fly in previous afterlives; both as an angel and a ghost, but nothing could compare to the excitement of actually flying with wings whilst still being alive.

Kenny had been all over the South Park mountain area for about an hour now. He had gotten used to controlling his way of flying. His wings felt like an extension of his won self. Like anybody would with any part of the body, Kenny could feel the warm buzzing and soft gentle feeling of his wings inside him – sitting just behind his shoulders on his upper back area.

After enjoying a nice and (at times) exciting trip around the mountains and forest area, Kenny gently landed back down on the ground – his feet making contact with the cold stone ground.

"Well…I see you enjoyed that?" Ageliss spoke. The two had been fairly quiet inside Kenny for the past hour. They were too busy observing Kenny's happiness of his new abilities.

"Hell yeh…" Kenny replied in a very happy tone of voice "That was fun!"

"Well we're not stopping just there yet – there's still more to show you."

"More?"

"Yep…" Divelia replied "You've seen how your light powers give you angel wings to fly, but yer' haven't seen the dark powers yet."

"Dark powers? You mean like……evil powers!?"

The two laughed in Kenny's mind. Kenny quickly realised that what he said was obviously silly and completely wrong.

"No…not _evil _powers – merely an opposite of light power and everything light."

"Alright, so how do I _get _this power then?"

"Easy…watch this!"

Within a few seconds, both of Kenny's hands started glowing – surrounded in spheres of different coloured light and energy. Kenny expressed shock in his cry and his head tilted back slightly at the sight of it.

"What the hell's this? What did you do to my hands?!"

"Nothing…we're just showing you how you change between light and dark powers."

"Change? You mean…like swapping between one another?!"

"That's right! All you have to do is focus and concentrate in releasing what kind of energy you want into your whole body. Your left hand is for light and your right for dark. Think of it as two separate………two separate…….ummmmmmmmm…….errrrrrrrrrr…..what do you call those things you move around in that go on roads?"

"Cars?"

"Yeh that's it, cars. Think of it as two separate car ignitions. What you're seeing now on your hands are the two separate ignitions and your mind is the key that starts it all up."

Although Kenny looked confused to the point of not understanding whatsoever, he finally figured out what Divelia was going on about.

"Ohhhhhhhh, I see. OK……so you're saying all I have to do is think and try to start this dark energy up or sumin."

"Yes……can you feel two tiny buzzes or sparks in your body?"

"…………Yeh……yeh I can. What's up with that anyway – I thought it was just something bad I ate or something like that?"

"Oh no…that's the kind of ignition thing we were on about. Just concentrate on that little buzz inside you and whatever power you're trying to start up will become active – simple as that."

"OK…so you want me to try and get this dark energy started then?"

"Well, _that is_ the reason why we've just mentioned all this." The two laughed and quickly fell silent.

Kenny closed his eyes in order to concentrate. Searching for that little buzz or spark inside him was a lot tougher than he thought it would be. But he knew he would get better at it as time went on – if he managed to accomplish it now at the first time of asking. Suddenly, Kenny found it. Focusing as hard as he could, he could feel that dark spark in him start to ignite and grow even bigger until the little spark had become more like a giant network of power and energy flowing through his body.

A warm wrapping of heat floated around Kenny's body. He slowly opened his eyes. He could feel something else where his angel wings used to be – something…darker and more exciting of a buzz. Guessing at what had just happened, he looked down at his body. And just as he expected, his look had changed. No more was his body covered in lines and strings of glowing blue energy and white light. And no more did he feel the continuing rush of light energy flow through his veins and his body. But instead, his body was covered in lines and strings of red energy and purple-like black light. But the most surprising change of all was of his wings. The soft gentle feather texture of his angel wings had been replaced by dark purple and black, sharp, fearing and somewhat jolty demon wings. And thus, where his light energy had turned him into a human light angel, his dark energy had turned him into a human dark demon – still with the innocence of his own body, mind and soul.

"Alright…here goes." Kenny concentrated – trying like before, to lift himself off the ground to hover. But he managed to focus his power quickly and he shot up into the sky like a dark bolt of purple lightning – that had been born from the very Earth ready top strike up into and across the light blue sky. Kenny smiled in a devilish manner – reassuring his satisfaction and shot off across the land and through the sky – just like a flying demon would. Only this time, the demon was of pure heart and not of evil.

Meanwhile, back at the Hunter's home, Sarah and Kyle were still talking. Sarah had just finished explaining her and her brother's past history story. Kyle didn't know how to feel – sorry for what had happened to her parents, happy that she was here instead which Kyle seemed to like or simply puzzled into what the future may have in stall for them.

"You're the only one who knows about this now Kyle. I didn't want to tell it to anyone unless it were necessary……but I have this feeling that you're the right person to tell. I don't know why, but I just get that feeling…y'know."

Kyle looked at Sarah. He completely understood the situation and circumstances Sarah and her brother was in. He had never heard such a story before. But he was sure that it was something that maybe he could help with in any way possible.

"So……is this the reason why your brother's been acting that way? Is it really because he's still upset about what happened."

"Yeh……ever since that day, he's told me time and time again that he hates America and everything American. He says it's his only way of trying to block out the memories of that day. But even now, he still hasn't forgiven that guy for what he did……and now he's putting the blame on everybody who's American. It's as if he has a total hate against everything here."

Sarah placed her hands over her face as if she was about to cry. "All we ever wanted was for our lives to be good and alright – that's all. And now because of all this, everything's so complicated that everybody just doesn't understand at all. WHY WON'T THIS JUST STOP!?" She began to cry. Kyle was worried and had deep sympathy for Sarah (as well as Maxwell). He had realised the situation she and her brother were in and he wanted to say 'sorry' even though he knew it wasn't his fault at all.

"Oh Sarah…come here." Kyle walked over to Sarah and gave her a hug (although in their case, it was more of a cuddle). They both wrapped their arms around one another to show that they both cared. "If you feel so bad about it all…and I have a feeling you do, then I'll always be here as a friend – that's a fact."

"Y-you really care about us that much?"

"Of course I do, why wouldn't I? I hate seeing people who I care about crying."

Kyle and Sarah stopped hugging and looked at each other. Sarah wiped away the few tears that were left dangling from her eyes and smiled.

"I've never heard such kind words from a person my age before. Thanks Kyle……you really know how to cheer up people eh?"

"Oh…well…y'know." Kyle looked down at his hands – twiddling with his fingers and rubbing his shoe against the garage floor. He looked at his watch and was surprised at what time it was. "Jesus, well I better be getting home, I should have been home 20 minutes ago."

"Alright then…I guess I'll see yer' tomorrow at school maybe."

"Yeh……yeh I guess so. See yer' Sarah."

"Goodbye Kyle……" As Kyle began to walk out of the garage, Sarah smiled even more and whispered a silent last bit of speech. "……you cute and cuddly little Jew."

"Huh, what did you say?" Kyle turned around – thinking he had heard something from Sarah.

"Oh nothing……just thinking to myself."

Kyle smiled and resumed his walk back home. Just as he was about to walk off the driveway and back onto the sidewalk path, Maxwell walked by and gave him a confused look as he passed by. Maxwell was really curious into why Kyle was so happy at the moment, so he decided to walk in the garage to talk with Sarah.

"How come he was around here?"

"Who?"

"You know who I'm talking about Sarah? That kid with the green hat."

"Oh you mean Kyle……he…errrrrrrr…just wanted to give me back a pen I'd left at school – silly things are always getting lost aren't they." Sarah replied – trying to make a joke of the situation. But Maxwell wasn't laughing or even smiling.

"Alright, whatever you say." He walked over to inspect all the musical instruments that had been arranged in the garage. "So……it all set then?"

"Yep, we can start practicing and even start recording tomorrow."

"Nice……I'll have to tell Andy and James to help me write some lyrics – I'm dying to get this thing started."

"Yeh me too – should be fun as well as challenging."

"Anyway…Josh said he's coming home tonight with pizza……you haven't already eaten have yer'?"

"Oh no…of course not."

"Good…I don't want to be eaten more than I can handle tonight."

The two siblings looked at each other and smiled; which soon turned into a soft laugh. Even in the most difficult of situations, the two of them would still get on and love one another – just like a true brother and sister would.

Back in the forest area of South Park, Kenny had just landed back on the ground after an enjoyable time of flying with demon wings. Kenny had landed quicker than a slower pace and so he was lying on the floor – out of breath and out of words to express just how excited and happy he was. Taking deep breaths, he began laughing in a breath-lacking manner.

Meanwhile in the not far distance, Stan and Cartman had spent the whole afternoon looking for their friend. They were about to give up when they spotted a strange figure lying on the snowy grass.

"Dude…is that him there?" Cartman asked.

"I dunno – kinda looks like him. Shall we check?"

"Yeh…HEY…YOU POOR LAZY SON OF A BITCH! What the f--- do you think you're doing?!"

Kenny didn't hear Cartman cry, however Stan and Cartman began to walk across to where Kenny was lying. Ageliss and Divelia had suddenly senses the two boys approaching.

"Kenny…KENNY……turn back into your normal form. Yer' two friends are coming, HURRY!"

"Divelia, Kenny can't hear us. He's laughing too much and he can't even hear us."

"Well what do we do now?"

"Looks like we'll have to do it ourselves."

"Oh alright then…on me……1…2…3!!!"

A quick flash of mixed coloured light was followed by a change in Kenny's appearance again. Kenny's demon look changed and he returned to being his normal all-human self. He was still without his parka – still wearing nothing but his white briefs. Kenny finally opened his eyes and slowly stopped laughing – his eyes revealing a bright light blue sky with Stan and Cartman looking down at him with very confused looks on their faces.

"Dude……what the hell are you doing?" Stan asked.

Kenny looked down at himself lying on the snowy ground. "Ermmmm……I…I thought I had a headache. Yeh, I thought I had a really painful headache but instead it was something that was tickling me inside. And then I guess I must have just gone out here or sumin."

"Well where's your jacket?"

"Ummmmmmmm……well……it was itching me, so I errrrrr took……it off." Kenny sounded very unsure about what and how he was saying this.

"Kenny……have you been taking drugs?" Cartman asked

"NOOOOOO!" Kenny stood up. "I haven't been taking drugs."

"Are you sure?"

"Cartman, Kenny hasn't been taking drugs."

"Thank you Stan."

"He's probably been smoking pot."

"WHAT?! HEY!"

"Yeh, yer' probably right Stan. Poor people DO smoke weird stuff all the time."

"Look guys, I haven't been smoking anything or been taking drugs, alright? Can we just find my jacket please; I'm f---ing freezing here."

"Alright, alright."

The three boys began to walk across the field. Kenny took careful steps across the snow- being barefooted and feeling the cold, icy chill freezing his feet to the point of not feeling anything.

After about half an hour of searching, they finally came to a point in an opening of the forest where Kenny had came to from before. There, was Kenny's orange parka lying on the snow – wet in places from the melted snow.

"Kenny, there it is – right near that stone."

Kenny held up his jacket by the hood – trying to get the dripping icy water off his jacket. Placing his brown shoes on, he carefully got dressed again and put his jacket on – getting chills from his icy cold jacket and the water and snow that was still clinging to it. With his jacket now fully on, Kenny placed the hood over his head – covering all of his scruffy dirty blond hair and fastening the drawstrings up to usual original tightness.

"Alright guys, let's go." Kenny spoke – his voice now back to its muffled form.

"Finally, let's get out of this place – this forest f---ing sucks!" Cartman replied at which the three boys made their way down back the sloped snowy field and back into the residential area of South Park.


	7. Part I: Enter The Unknown Being

**Chapter 7a: Enter The Unknown Being**

The paths were dark – pavement stones ensnared in a layer of black and the hills expressing the only sense of white that stood against it all. And down that long path of darkness was a small boy – walking down in an exact and precise straight fashion. The emotions on his face attracted straight to the negative side – frowning, eyes focused, eyebrows low and what seemed like a concentrated look of anger written all over. His hair, as black as coal and his eyes as blue as the very ocean itself stood out against his average toned skin. But unaware to everyone, his casual look was nothing more than a distraction from his true self. The graphic-covered T-Shirt, dark blue pair of jeans, white trainers and thin winter jacket were nothing more than his very own tools of human distraction – the very thing he wanted when he first came to this place.

As he passed the line of shops that ran down the side of the street, the few passing members of the South Park public looked down at him. It was obvious his look and his unusual emotional appearance were catching a lot of eyes.

A few minutes later up the street, a group of 6th graders that were sat by the side of the shops spotted the sole boy as he passed them by. Looking at one another and seeing this as a perfect opportunity for taunts and slight bullying, they rushed onto their bikes and started circling the child – laughing, taunting and making ridiculous motorbike sounds.

"Well what do we have here – a little fourthy walking about in the street by himself! What's the matter? Yer' got no friends?!" The leader spoke in a cocky powering fashion. The other boys laughed.

The little boy indeed did look like a 4th grader – about the same age as any of the four boys. He looked up at the lead kid – saying nothing and still having that annoyed and unimpressed look on his face.

"Awwww, what's the matter little baby, can't speak?!" ****

Finally, the boy smiled in a very devilish fashion. The side of his cheek made his lip raise to give a very unusual smile.

"**Well……I've only been here 20 minutes and yet I've quite a lot about you people. You're all just a bunch of insolent and pathetic wastes of life."**

The 6th graders looked at each other and laughed. They had never heard anything so stupid and yet smart before.

"So, you know a few big words huh?" Another kid began "Too bad you probably won't remember them when we smash you into pieces."

"**Oh no, I think you got that the wrong way round…" **the boy spoke in a sarcastic cheerful voice **"I think it's YOU who won't be remembering those words."**

_Ooooooooo! _The kids weren't impressed with the boy's cocky big talk.

"And what's a 4th grader gunna do to us, HUH?!"

"**Oh nothing special……" **the boy placed his hand palms together and opened them out again – revealing from his hand a magnum revolver. Flicking it around and into his right hand's grip, he pointed it straight at his first kid victim. He smiled devilishly again. **"……just something you'll never understand."**

Then……the trigger was pulled back. A loud piercing bang gave way to one kid's demise. Flapping and falling down onto the cold, black path – blood pouring out of his chest, it only took a few seconds before the first kid, was dead. The remaining victims didn't whether to run or brutally hurt this boy. The second kid charged forward. Without rotating or even moving his head, the boy moved his hand and gripped Magnum over to the next line of sight – the second kid's forehead.

_BANG!_

One kid remained – scared out of his skin and really fearing this kid. Ditching his bike out of pure fear, he ran as fast as he could down the shopping street – stopping at what he thought was a safe place in a dark alleyway between two buildings. As he breathed heavily and full of fear, his eyes widened and his pulse beat at a shocking level. He looked carefully around the corner – pulse beating and heart pounding. The kid was nowhere to be seen, he had disappeared. The seconds felt like minutes to him, the kid was in deep fear and he wanted to make sure that the area was clear of this……boy. But just as he was about to walk back out, something sent a chill down his spine – the presence of someone directly behind him. As he slowly moved his body around, his voice was the very thing that expressed his complete fear. And right in front of him, point blank range, was the boy looking at him with an evil smile on his face. The boy tilted his head forward slightly.

"**Boo"**

The boy yelled in fear and ran off again. But just as he ran down another alley, there was the boy – waiting for him like the very hunter he seemed to be. His feet hanging from a steel alley ladder and balcony area, even upside down, he could see the kid's face covered completely in cold blue fear. As he watched the boy run off, he moved his feet off the steel bar, yet he remained in the air. He was floating in mid-air – without the support of anything physical. As he rotated back round – facing up again as normal, he slowly hovered back down to the ground. Whatever he was, this kid was certainly not human – not even remotely close to human.

The kid continued to run down the street, but his running quickly came to an end as he was lifted off the ground by the boy who stood near him. The boy's hand raised and his palm out straight, he concentrated on keeping him up in the air – much to his own sick enjoyment and the kid's cruel fear.

"Please……PLEASE! Please don't kill me……I'm sorry…I'M SORRY! I won't bother you again I SWEAR. PLEASE…LET ME GO-O-OOOO!"

"**Y'know, I was going to do that……but I think you deserve a much better punishment for bothering me."**

The kid feared the worst.

"**No…I'm not going to kill you…just merely send you away on a PERMANENT vacation."**

"V-v-vacation?"

"**Yes……a vacation. I'm giving you the ultimate treat in spending the _rest of eternity sealed up in the gap between dimensions…_just like I had been for SO LONG!"**

"No…no please don't!" The kid had no idea what he meant, but he knew it didn't sound good.

The boy clenched his opened hand together and began to concentrate. The kid's physical mass started to implode and it wasn't long before he completely disappeared into non-existence – a flash of light blinding a small area and fading away gradually. The boy slowly opened his hand again and started slowly walking up the path again. He spotted the kid he had shot earlier was still alive – gripping the side-walk and trying to crawl his away to safety and help. The boy smiled and walked up to him – standing cruelly on his left hand with his right shoe and looked down at him.

"**You humans are all the same. No matter what the situation, you always take advantage of your emotions – something which eventually will lead to your downfall."**

Pointing his Magnum down at the kid's forehead, he pulled back the trigger and a quick splash of blood sickened and trickled its way onto the path.

The boy turned back around and opened out his left hand. A small ball of pure black spherical light appeared. The boy moved down into an alleyway. He didn't want to be seen – especially next to a most sickening scene. His eyes began to glow white and what looked like electronic holographic data started presenting itself out of the black ball. Like a 3-D spherical projector, the black ball of light projected a digital screen out into an area of empty air. Using his unused right hand, the boy moved and twitched his fingers in specific ways to use the data screen. It was like he was using a computer – except with all the wires and other physical objects. The screen started to display information from its dark blue glowing and buzzing screen.

**X:/Data Storage Area/Documents/Log Entries/First Arrival.x!3!z:**

**Arrival on the Physical Spherical Existence known as 'Planet Earth' has been a success. Atmospheric Scans Confirmed: Planetary Atmosphere is mostly comprised of Nitrogen & Oxygen. Set HumanFiles/BreatheProgram.blz-4x to accept Gas programs 'Nitrogen' & 'Oxygen'. Sensors detect an exponential increase of Carbon Dioxide at a rate of 1.00237 – Readings confirm this is not of a serious concern.**

**The neutralizing and termination of '_3' _'Humans' has taken place. Recording.Print set………COMPLETE. **

**De-Activate Existing Manual Gas Control Modules? YES**

**Activate _iLung_ Planetary Gas Acceptance Filters? YES **

**Activation Complete – Human Form of Self will now be able to accept Oxygen and Nitrogen when breathing.**

The boy twitched his fingers again to move to another part of the energy ball's data banks.

**X:/Data Storage Area/Documents/Mission Plan Files/Current.Objective**

**Primary and First Objective Achieved. Gaining Access to a Controllable Physical Mass Region was easy to find on Earth. Data sensors in ENRGY detected no shielding from trans-dimensional access. Transport to 'Earth' was easy. Objective Achieved – Move onto next Objective:**

**X:/Data Storage Area/Documents/Mission Plan Files/Second.Objective-!New!**

**ENRGY has confirmed the location of target life-forms. First subject appears to be based in a physical mass – most noteably a residential building of some classification. iSpy has confirmed subject is within a relaxed state – sensor emotions are not detected. Subject KYLE BROFLOVSKI must be engaged whilst this chance of opportunity has presented itself.**

The boy began to pick out any possible weapon his intelligent existence could think of. It didn't matter whether he had it with him or not, he was certainly not human, it had appeared he could do anything.

**Weapon confirmed – PZ-6 .23 Calibre Silenced Sniper Rifle. Weapon appears to be in working order. Existence of weapon has been snatched from an unknown location – not that it is of my concern. Engage New Objective – Co-ordinates of BROFLOVSKI residents set. I will not let this opportunity slip by. I will get what is rightfully mine. For this is my time to rise…the time of Xerok. Even if those two fools have awakened _'The Guardian' _in that kid, that will not stop me from achieving what I came here to get.**

The boy closed down the program – finishing the last of the words he was writing with his supernatural fingers on his spherical data of black light. Placing his newly equipped and newly spawned sniper rifle onto his back, he placed his hands in his jacket pockets and walked off, back out into the street and back down the path – now heading to his first target of the mission – the boy by the name of Kyle Broflovski.


	8. Part II: The Reaction Game

**Chapter 7b: The Reaction Game **

Night time had come and it was near to pitch black outside. The 4 Hunters were all sat in the living room watching (British) TV. They had two tellies in the room – one for American channels and the other for British channels. Although they were thousands of miles away from their original homes now, they couldn't resist still watching their traditional TV that all they loved throughout their lives. At the moment, they were flicking through the 900 or so digital channels available – anything that would pass the time since they had been waiting so long for Josh to come back with the Pizzas.

"Hey James, get the menu thing up so we can have a look at what's on?" Maxwell spoke in a hunger-fuelled tone.

"Maxwell, we're not in Britain anymore, we're in America for Christ's sake – they're like 7 hours ahead of us in time. It's just past 9 here, there's not gunna be anything on at…" He looked at his watch "…4 in the morning."

"There has to be something!" Sarah added "There's always something decent on telly."

"Alright, I'll take a look." James flicked through the on-screen menu – pressing a dozen or so buttons on the remote control in the process.

They finally agreed to just watch a 24 hour news channel since there was absolutely nothing on – nothing of an interesting subject. James, leaning his body against the sofa whilst slouched on the floor sat up again and tuned over to the news channel. Maxwell and Sarah looked bored as hell on the sofa whilst Andy was reading a book on fashion and something girlish. Not known to anybody else outside the family, Andy was infact gay. He had been silent for the duration of their time in this country – but that didn't cloud his flamboyant, happy and excited mood that Maxwell and Sarah loved him for. They didn't mind that he was gay – Maxwell of all people had preferred him to be gay rather than straight as he knew Andy was the perfect guy to always put a smile on his face whenever he felt down. Plus, he had an excellent dress sense – something Maxwell was greatly thankful for.

James on the other hand was the most active and energetic member of the family. The total opposite of Maxwell – a loud, excited, always happy, bubbly maniac with a complete control over what he did. Nobody could explain it, but James had a great love for explosives and dangerous things. Back in Britain, James was known in his old secondary school for being a real joker and maniac with nearly anything. He would always be trying to blow things to pieces whether it be with things like petrol and aerosols or not – he loved the buzz of it all and at times, it scared the other Hunters. But he would always know his limits and would at times, be a cool, calm character in situations like this where nothing seemed to be happening.

Finally, after a long wait for what they wanted, the doorbell rang with a charming little jingle. The family's eyes widened and Sarah rushed to the door. She opened it. Josh walked in – bag pack on and carrying 5 hot and scented pizza boxes, immediately making his way to the kitchen.

"Alright guys, I got what you all like. Ham & Pineapple for Sarah, Pepperoni for Maxwell, Chicken for Sarah, Meat Feast for James…"

"You DID get my favourite didn't you?" Andy butted in.

"Of course I did. It doesn't get ignored that you love your veggie pizza."

"Great, thanks Josh. I just hope this isn't that fattening."

"Oh God Andy, no matter what you eat, you're always more concerned in how much fat it has in it." James replied in a joke-like manner.

"Hey, it's not a crime to be concerned about your look and how good you feel."

"Well in your case, they should make it a crime."

The group laughed slightly. Andy was the most caring of the group in terms of his personal look. There was never a day where he wouldn't look in the mirror to brush up on his own look or analyse carefully what he should wear for a given day. In anybody's eye, he was a health and fashion freak – but what would anybody expect from somebody who was completely open about his own self gayness. Being half Scottish, he knew all about the good and bad balance in food. His mother was a chef and his father used to never care about health concerns and warnings. Andy would always find his father eating something like a battered Mars Bar or deep-fried piece of Pizza – a typical fattening Scottish tradition, which sadly was the very thing that led to Andy's father's death.

At that point, Maxwell started to feel an unwelcoming pain in his stomach. It felt like he was going to be sick and the signs of problems were written all over his face.

"Something the matter Maxwell?" Sarah asked looking typically worried about Maxwell.

"No no, just a little pain in my stomach – must have been something I ate at dinner time."

"Do you want to take a painkiller or sumin?"

"Yeh, it would help. Where are they?"

"I think they're upstairs in the bathroom cabinet. Just take a couple with a drink of water and you'll be fine."

"Cheers Josh."

Maxwell quickly rushed upstairs – trying desperately to get this pain sorted so he could begin scoffing his face with pizza. Opening the bathroom cabinet and taking out the painkiller packet, he slowly filled a small glass with tap water and looked at the mirror.

_Oh God, where the heck did this pain suddenly come from? _As Maxwell started feeling it even more, it began to feel less like a stomach bug or moment of indigestion. But whatever it was, Maxwell was certain a couple of painkillers and some water would get rid of it.

A few houses up the street at the Broflovski residents' house, Kyle and the other three boys were sitting on the couch watching TV. Kenny as usual had to face being sat on the outside of the group like he always did – with Kyle and Stan sat in the middle and Cartman on the left.

"Dude……TV's boring – there's nothing on." Kyle spoke.

"Really? There's nothing on?!" Stan replied – shocked at this strangely true fact.

"Yeh, look." Kyle began to flick through the TV channels. He stopped on the main news channel.

"_Breaking news this evening. 2 dead bodies have been found in downtown South Park…"_

"Woah dude!" Stan spoke in a surprised tone of voice.

Suddenly, a little pinch of energy sparked itself in Kenny's head.

"Hey, what's up you two?" Kenny spoke to the two in his mind.

"Kenny…" Ageliss began "…something feels strange. I'm picking up this……cold sense of dark energy coming near us."

"Huh? Cold dark energy? What are you talking about?!"

"_For more info on this story, we can now head to our main news reporter, Jon Nodrash…"_

"_Tom I'm standing outside the scene where earlier this evening, 2 bodies were found in the middle of the street just half an hour ago. The victims appear to be in their early teens – estimated at being in the 6th grade. Police haven't been able to identify the bodies since they don't know anybody personally who looks like the two victims, but an investigation is well underway. No suspects have been found surrounding this scene, but an ongoing investigation is still taking place."_

"Woah! Two dead 6th graders!"

"Oh well, at least we don't have to worry about getting beat up at school anymore."

"CARTMAN!"

"What, I'm just saying. We won't have to worry about that anymore…they're dead."

The other boys looked at Cartman – Kyle being the most annoyed. "You're such an asshole Cartman!"

Approximately 300 metres away in the darkness of the outside hills, the boy from before picked out the sniper rifle from off of his back. Picking out a few rounds of bullets, he loaded the rifle up and looked through the advanced scope of the rifle. The rifle had an extremely powerful 400x magnification scope on it, meaning that even from a distance, the boy could see every bit of detail of the house and inside the house.

"**So……you think you're safe sitting in your little house watching TV huh? Think again kid!"** Although he was very confident that he would get his target in just one shot and would only need one bullet, he preferred a full loaded rifle – a cocky and smug factor that he greatly appreciated to have. Closing his right eye and focusing, he positioned the rifle's red beam directly in the centre of Kyle's forehead. The beam passed from the boy's rifle, through the air, through the glass window and directly onto Kyle's head.

Suddenly, Kenny felt a sharp and cold blade-like spark rush through his body.

"Kenny! Did you feel that?!" Divelia spoke in a shocked tone of voice.

"Yeh…what the f--- was that? It was like some kind of……cold……and dark feeling."

"Something's happening around here – something dark and evil." Ageliss replied.

The boy – the one that Ageliss and Divelia knew only as the evil one **Xerok**.

Xerok pulled back the trigger.

"KENNY…NOW!" Ageliss yelled in Kenny's head.

The energy in Kenny's body ignited and jumped to life. The room and the entire house began to stand still. Everything was suddenly paused – the three other boys were as solid and still as statues and an extremely slow atmosphere oozed its way through the existence of the surroundings. But Kenny was still active – his body not affected by the sudden pause in time for it was he and the energy inside him that had paused time around him.

As he stood in the solid living room – now transformed back into his demon form with black and purple demon wings and his body now covered in lines and veins of glowing red and black energy, he spotted a slow moving bullet making its way through the opening in the window and directly towards Kyle's forehead. Kyle – unaware of what was going on in that brief quick action of time could only sit in a paused state and be blinded from what was actually occurring.

"Oh s---! Kyle!" Kenny shouted – rushing over to the bullet's path in a static, dark fashion. As he stood in front of the ever reaching bullet, he wasn't sure what to do with it – he had only learned a few tricks and abilities and wasn't ready to tackle this kind of problem. "S---, what the f--- am I supposed to do?!"

"Kenny, KENNY. Use your dark energy on that bullet – get rid of it…" Divelia spoke – along with Kenny, was the only one who wasn't in a paused fashion.

"How?"

"Melt it with your dark energy! HURRY!"

Kenny had absolutely no idea what Divelia was going on about, but he tried anyway. He placed his hand out – open and straight and focused. A warm wave of invisible energy shot out of Kenny's body and within seconds, the bullet began to slow down and melt into nothing but a small blob of liquid metal and ash-like powder.

"Hang on, I can't leave this thing in that state – it'll f---ing melt the floor. I have to get rid of it fast."

Kenny quickly reverted to his light and angelic form – bright white wings and his body now covered in lines of white and light blue energy. Thinking the same kind of method would work but only the opposite; Kenny unleashed another wave of invisible energy. This time, the pure warm light now flowing through his body channelled out of his hand and immediately froze the liquid metal blob that was the bullet until it had completely frozen into a small spherical ice ball. Grabbing it from its mid-air position, Kenny threw it out the window at a shocking velocity – something that even surprised him.

He sat back down on the couch – returning to his normal human form and thus, in the process, allowing time to return back to its normal flow.

"I wonder who got killed then." Stan asked. It had seemed like nothing had happened, Stan simply spoke like anybody would but like Kyle and Cartman was unaware of the incredibly quick actions that had just taken place.

"Who cares, it's just a bunch of 6th graders." Cartman replied.

Kenny looked at his friends – eyes widened and heart beating. He could not believe what had just happened and what he had just done. It was still impossible for him to believe that for the first time ever, he had saved Kyle's life whilst everything around him seemed to just stand still, including time.

Kenny looked at his hands in disbelief.

"Hey Kenny, you alright?" Kyle asked – noticing Kenny's unusual shocked look.

Kenny was breathing heavily. He rushed out of the living room and into Kyle's back garden. He knelt down on the ground and continued to breathe chaotically.

"Kenny…you alright?" Ageliss spoke.

"What……the hell…just happened?!"

"You saved your friend Kyle's life, that's what happened."

"How the hell……did I do that – how did I manage to freeze time and do what I did to that bullet?!"

"It's all a part of your new powers Kenny."

"What……I did that…all of that was me?!"

"Yes Kenny……you see, the dark powers in you allow you to freeze time temporarily and thus, it helped you to see that fast moving bullet……and stop it from killing your friend."

"That burning and freezing……I did that too?!"

"Yes……the Fires & Lava of Hell and the Ice & Water of Heaven will always aid you when you need them Kenny. They are the sources of power that lie within you Kenny – they are your allies."

Kenny stood back up – now understanding clearly who he was and what he was. He slowly raised his right hand and stared at it. He was human – yet so non-human. He was a child – yet so powerful. He was similar – and yet so different. And in the midst of all this, Kenny was still a 9 year old boy – unaware that the challenges that he would eventually face would show his true new self as being the human who was an angel and demon too.

"But………but who DID try to shoot Kyle……AND WHY?!"

"There can only be one possible explanation………HE'S HERE!"

300 metres away, the being known as Xerok slowly placed the rifle in his hands and caused it to dissolve into a form of nothingness.

"**So……_The Guardian _has finally shown itself and it seems he's already gotten used to his skills. Pity all that power had to go to such a pathetic unit of life."** The boy stood back up, placed his hands in his jacket pockets and walked back down the back side of the hill which was completely covered in shadow. As his human body slowly walked through the shadows of the hill, his eyes began to glow white once more and sparkled in a devilish manner.

"Dude, you alright?" Kyle spoke – now standing outside in the garden besides Kenny.

"Huh? Oh yeh sure……I just felt dizzy that's all."

"Seriously Kenny…you need to stop getting all these dizzy feelings…yer' starting to freak me out, not that I don't get freaked by you already." Cartman spoke.

"Yeh, thanks Cartman." Kenny spoke in a sarcastic fashion.

The three boys walked back inside the house and back into the living room to watch some TV again.

"Kenny…we need to speak to you when you get the chance to be in privacy – it's important." Ageliss spoke.

"Why? What's wrong?" There was a brief silence. Kenny waited for a reply, but there was nothing. "Guys?"

"Kenny…I think your friends might be in trouble."

"What? Trouble!?"


	9. Part I: Their First Phone Call

**Chapter 8a: Their First Phone Call**

_RING RING…RING RING _The phone jiggled its way across its own stand as it sat expressing the only noise left in the house. Walking into the hallway to pick it up, Sarah looked down at the black phone and answered it.

"Hello?" But the caller quickly hung up – making it seem that the sudden sound of Sarah's voice had startled him or her. The phone line went dead and Sarah was left in a state of confusion. "Heh must have been the wrong number."

But the caller on the other end of the dead line sat on his bed and took a deep breath. As he calmly set his mind rate and heartbeat back to its normal level, Kyle picked up the phone and tried once more.

_RING RING…RING RING _Sarah was about to enter the living room once more when the phone rang for a second time – with Sarah having her back to the phone and slowly turning back around. She walked over and picked the phone up again.

"Hello?"

But Kyle said nothing. The words that he wanted to say were on the tip of his tongue and yet his mind had gone completely blank at the same time. He was too nervous to talk and too afraid of slipping up that he might have said the wrong thing.

"Hello? Is someone there?" Sarah could hear the sound of a quiet breathing sound and the quiet stuttering of a young little boy, but had no idea who was on the other end. "Look whoever this is; I think you've got the wrong number OK?" The caller hung up again and Sarah slowly placed the phone back on its stand.

Kyle dropped the phone onto his bed. Crossing his legs and rubbing his fingers against his forehead, he looked down.

"Jesus, why can't I just say it?! I know what I want to say……but I'm just f---ing nervous…why?"

Meanwhile, Sarah had just sat back down on the couch in the living room. She was now in her beautiful and pretty-looking pink and purple pyjamas and was just about ready to go to bed.

"Hey Sarah, didn't you say you were going to ring that boy tonight……y'know, the boy you know around here."

"JAMES…you're not supposed to remind me about things like that."

"Why?!"

"Because……"

Andy can immediately sense something. "Ooooooo, has a certain someone got a little crush on a boy?!" He asked in a cheeky and cheerful tone of voice.

"NO" Sarah replied – trying to deny it straight away. "I just wanted to y'know, ring him up and say 'hi'."

"Well why don't you go and do it before you have to go to bed then?"

"Because…I don't know what to say."

Both James and Andy smiled. "Oh don't worry about it, I'm sure you'll know what to say – you're a really smart girl Sarah."

"Thanks Andy……well if you think I know what to say then……ah what the hell…I'll go and do it."

Sarah walked back into the hallway.

"I've got 10 quid on her bottling it."

"YOU'RE ON JAMES. She'll do it, I know she will."

Sarah pulled out a small piece of paper from out of one of the shelves of the hallway cupboard. On it was Kyle's phone number. Sarah had managed to write it down before the end of the school day from Kyle. Both of them decided to swap numbers just in case they ever wanted to talk to one another. They both denied it was for loving reasons – just merely for a friend's sake. Sarah typed in the number into the phone. She was very unfamiliar with American phone numbers and much preferred the standard British method of phone numbers. British numbers would always have a standard 11 number structure – the first 5 for the location area and the last 6 for the precise number for that given house or building. In Sarah's eyes, American numbers made no sense – what with the strange 1800's and 555's at the beginning; not to mention having to figure out what numbers represented which letters when dialling a business or company.

The phone started to ring. At this point, Kyle was now downstairs – pouring out a glass of cold milk from out of the fridge. The wall phone started to ring – immediately attracting his attention. He stared at it for a few seconds. Placing the glass of milk on the table, he walked over to the phone. But just as he was about to pick it up, he stopped – his hand paused in motion. Kyle didn't know why he stopped, but he felt something inside him stopping him from answering the phone.

The phone rang for a few more seconds and quickly went to the answering machine.

_Hi this is the Broflovski House, no one's in at the moment. Please leave your message after the beep._

_BEEP_

"_Hi Kyle…errrrrr it's me…Sarah." _Kyle started to smile. Hearing Sarah's voice had brought a welcoming smile to his face. _"I just rang up to say errrrrr…hi, I guess. Oh and by the way, was it you who was trying to ring me earlier on?…" _Kyle felt a bit embarrassed about that. _"…But it's alright, I've been like that before. Strange as it may sound…heh…you seem much cuter because of it."_

Kyle was surprised. _She…she thinks I'm cute? _The smile on his face rose slightly higher.

"_I hope I don't sound stupid saying that, but ever since I moved here, you made me feel really welcome and you've been really nice to me. No one outside my family has ever been that nice to me…and I'm very grateful, for you being like that. I never knew you cared."_

_I never knew either. _Kyle jokingly spoke in his mind.

"_So…if you get this message…I've got a little……surprise waiting for you tomorrow at school. OK, I better get to bed…goodbye Kyle…………………………you cute and cuddly little Jew." _Sarah giggled and hung up. Kyle continued to stare at the phone for a few seconds and his smile turned into an expression of shear happiness and glee.

_I'm very grateful for you being like that…………you cute and cuddly little Jew. _It was those words that kept repeating inside Kyle's head.Nothing could portray just how happy Kyle was at hearing that. He had been a very caring individual over the years. But for a girl to actually say thank you for being like that and appearing to have a crush on him, in Kyle's eyes, it was one of the most happiest moments of his young life so far and he wasn't going to led this chance of a close friendship with a girl slip him by.

Picking up his glass of milk, he began to walk up the stairs – smile on his face and in a completely happy mood; looking forward to what might bring him and what this 'little surprise' actually was.


	10. Part II: The Plan & The Explanation

**Chapter 8b: The Plan & The Explanation**

"I don't know how he managed to do it, but somehow he's been able to take human form" Ageliss spoke – sitting on the end of Kenny's bed and looking at him.

"Wait a minute, he's not human?"

"Nope, he's certainly not human." Divelia replied – sitting on the floor next to Kenny's half-damaged sliding wardrobe.

"Then what the hell is he then?" Kenny sat – the hood of his orange parka folded down yet sat up in his bed.

"He's different to anything you've ever seen before Kenny, believe me."

"Well what then? Is he like an animal or beast or monster or what?"

"Well……" Ageliss thought hard in how he was to word what he was about to say. "…He's a creature of a higher level. He's physically more advanced than a standard human. He's stronger, faster, smarter and a lot more dangerous than a human being."

"But he's still evil right?"

"He's more than JUST EVIL Kenny…" Divelia replied – standing up and sitting back down on the left side of Kenny's bed. "Xerok is an entity of pure evil. He's the result of evil existing in itself."

Kenny was confused. _How could evil exist just by itself?_ It didn't make any sense. But then again, what Kenny was dealing with now was something of un-natural proportion. His life and everything around him had a totally different meaning now. Suddenly, a thought came to his head.

"Wait a minute; you said this guy was just all evil right?"

"Yes."

"Well, surely he's just like a human, right?" Ageliss and Divelia were confused into what Kenny was trying to say. "I mean, there's been…like…plenty of bad and even evil people in the World overtime. Hitler, Saddam Hussein, George Bush, so wouldn't this Xerok guy just be like them."

"No…far from it."

"What do you mean 'far from it'?"

"Think about it Kenny. Do humans have a choice into how they think and what they believe in? Of course they do, that's what separates the good people from the bad people…and eventually from the evil people. Everyone is born good, but eventually, they make a decision into what path to follow. There's no dictatorship in terms of decision, it's always their own choice."

_Oh yeah, of course. I guess that explains everything. _Kenny had finally realised what Ageliss meant. Humans are always born equal, but it's throughout life that their decisions, opinions and even their own acts that determines whether they are seen as good, bad or even evil.

"So you're saying that Xerok is different to humans."

"Precisely…Xerok wasn't born with an equal balance of choice. He was born from the darkest and coldest regions of existence in the Universe. His heart's as cold as ice and his mind is as black as what you call 'coal'."

"So how did he exist in the first place…does he have a mom?" Kenny joked – but Ageliss and Divelia showed no signs of laughing. Kenny's little laugh quickly faded away.

"Xerok never did have a physical source to be born from, just like us two."

"You two don't have mom's either?!" Now Kenny was confused.

"That's correct; we were born from the very matter that makes up Heaven and Hell. The only reason why we look human is that we merely replicated your physical human structure to look like you……only a bit older."

"So I'm presuming Xerok was born out of the 'matter' from this 4th dimension right?"

"Right……the 4th dimension is a twisted and cold place – hardly anything manages to stay alive in that place. It's a tight, dark, thin and empty place full of nothingness. Kinda like a Black Hole but even crueller and more vicious."

"What's a Black Hole?" Divelia whispered the answer to Kenny. "Ooooooooh…right, I get'cha."

There were still a couple of questions on Kenny's mind.

"So how come he exists in the first place? Did it just…happen?"

"Think of it this way…good and evil are like a chicken and an egg. One can't exist without the other one allowing it to be created in the first place."

"I see…the chicken can't exist unless there's an egg for it to hatch from. But then the egg can't exist unless there's a chicken to actually lay it."

"That's right…good and evil exist in the same fashion. Evil can't exist unless there's good to go against it. But good can't exist unless there's evil to go against that too. But unlike the chicken and the egg, the two balance and even cancel each other out. Neither is stronger than the other yet they still manage to exist."

Although they hadn't explained it to him yet, Kenny had realised something else. The 3 natural dimensions together and the 4th dimension were almost like representations of good and evil. Our Universe, Heaven and Hell were like the balance of good and then the 4th dimension was like the balance of evil. Each balance cancelled one another out, yet they both still existed in a natural Universal structure.

_But wait a minute; I thought Hell was related to evil, how could it be classed as a force of good? _This was indeed something that had confused him. Being someone who had strangely been to both Heaven and Hell before in past lives, it was strange to deem them both as good, surely? Well Kenny looked at it from this point of view:

Earlier before, Ageliss and Divelia explained to him that the Heaven and Hell he had believed in (and even seen) were, to put it in basic terms, fake realities. The real Heaven and Hell were both similar dimensions but with different looks, feels and existences to them. Kenny used something he would find easier, in order to understand all this. A video game is basically a huge program full of written codes, procedures, statements and other computer programming properties and yet someone playing doesn't see it as that, but sees it from a different perspective – the art and design side to the game. The same reasoning applied to Heaven and Hell. The real dimensions were too complex, mysterious and shocking for human understanding. So a designed Heaven and Hell reality was created for spirits to remain in once they had passed away from their physical lives on Earth. Which dimension they went in depended solely on their past decisions in life.

It was only a few days ago that Ageliss and Divelia admitted to Kenny that both of them had helped create the new realities of Heaven and Hell almost 85,000 years ago when they merely matter/anti-matter based spirits of existence. It was believed that Divelia along with the few other dark-based spirits were afraid that evil beings would gain access to Hell and eventually become too dominant in that Dimension and thus, take it over. The same problem applied to Heaven – too many good souls would have gained advantage of the true existence of Heaven and who would have known, war could have been declared between the two dimensions over complete control of all 3 natural dimensions. It would have then left the 4th dimension being the only stable and properly existing dimension of the 4.

Kenny rubbed his head and scruffed up blond hair. "Jesus, this is too much to take in."

"It's alright Kenny, we didn't expect you to understand all this straight from the beginning."

"There's still one REALLY important question I want both of you to answer me?"

"Sure, what?"

"Why did that Xerok being try to shoot a bullet at my friend Kyle. And what did you mean when you said my friends are in danger."

There was a pause. Ageliss and Divelia looked at each other for a moment. Kenny crossed his arms – expecting an answer from either of them.

"Go on Ageliss, this is more of your kind of thing." Divelia spoke – patting Ageliss on the shoulder slightly and walking over to a corner of the room."

Kenny began to look at Ageliss. Ageliss took a deep breath and began.

"Kenny…you need to understand…Xerok has come to Earth for something…something specific."

"Well what?"

"We don't know…but it involves all three of your friends."

"Three? Stan and Kyle are my only friends – Cartman's just an asshole."

"Either way, all their lives are in danger."

"Well that seems a little coincidental doesn't it. What's going on then?"

"We don't know, we've been trying to figure that out ourselves. But whatever it is, I'm sure it's got something to do with trying to conquer all three dimensions."

"WHAT!?" Kenny yelled and immediately shutting and covering his mouth. His whole family were asleep and it was already past midnight so Kenny had to make sure he remained quiet until he actually went to sleep.

"Yeh, shocking isn't it."

"Shocking? It's f---ing scary too. So am I supposed to be protecting my friends…plus Cartman, as well as myself too."

"Don't worry about that, we think we may have a theory into why he tried to attack your friend Kyle. However, it's still unclear at this present moment."

"So what are you or should I say we going to do about it then?"

"Don't worry Kenny, we'll tell you what we're going to do tomorrow when you're at school."

"Hey, are you going to like…train me or sumin and make me stronger? That would be so killer."

"Errrrrrr……yyyyeh, in a way."

"Cool. Alright, I better get some sleep. I don't want to wake up tomorrow feeling tired and dazed like before. Goodnight guys."

"Goodnight Kenny." Ageliss and Divelia both spoke as Kenny turned off his bed-side lamp and rolled onto his side to get to sleep. It didn't take him long before he was out and fast asleep.

Ageliss and Divelia looked at each other, nodded and made their way out into the garden. It was pitch black outside, but they could both still see everything.

"Should I contact those in my dimension or do you want to do it?"

"I think it's best if we contact those in Heaven first. It'll suit them best when we get there."

"Good idea, I'll wait by that broken tree if you need me."

"Sure thing Divelia."

As Divelia walked over to the broken tree to sit down by it, Ageliss opened out his right hand. A small ball of cyan-coloured light emerged and began to float just above Ageliss' right palm.

"Hello, can you hear me? It's Ageliss."

"**Hello Ageliss, what do you want?" **A strange voice replied from out of the glowing ball of cyan light.

"He's already here."

"**What! So soon?" **What Ageliss had just said had brought an unwelcoming tone of shock to this stranger's voice. **"Are you sure?"**

"Yes…he apparently tried to physically kill one of the three humans using some kind of physical weapon."

"**Which one…?"**

"The one in the green hat."

"**Ah…him. That didn't surprise me. I guess Xerok thought by killing him would give him an early lead in the race."**

"Yeh that's what I thought too."

"**I presume _The Guardian _managed to stop him?"**

"Yes…nothing to worry about. Kenny managed to stop the bullet and discard of it in quick-motion time."

"**Good, it sounds like he's already getting used to his new powers. But let's not get ahead of ourselves."**

"Right…which is why I contacted you. I need permission from both dimensions to bring Kenny and the three others to both Heaven and Hell."

"**What?! Why?"**

"It's too dangerous to leave them here. If they're attacked by Xerok whilst Kenny isn't on Earth, it could mean disaster for us."

"**True……alright, I'll ask both dimensions – I'm sure they won't decline a request by you. I'll make sure they have both dimensions ready for Kenny's AND the three boys' arrival."**

"Good…don't worry about us getting them there. Me and Divelia have a safe plan regarding that."

"**OK…you do that. Oh and one more thing……make sure you keep watch over that kid…Kenny's the only one who can defeat that being. If he fails, the Universe fails."**

"I know……I understand."

Ageliss closed his right hand – causing the ball of light to shrink and disappear. The two moved back into the house and into Kenny's room to watch over him again while he was still sleeping.


	11. Departure To Another Dimension

**Chapter 9: Departure To Another Dimension**

Recess was nearly at its end. The day had been good so far for the boys. Although the previous lesson had been boring as usual, it didn't bother them – they had minds set on other things too much to care – especially Kyle. That message Sarah had left had been super glued into his head through the night and right into the morning rise.

_I've got a little……surprise waiting for you tomorrow at school. _Which would then be followed by his favourite little message: _you cute and cuddly little Jew._

The other three boys had no idea what had made Kyle so happy and giddy with positivity. Kyle had been like that for the whole morning and they couldn't explain why he was like this whatsoever. But Kyle knew…he was on the verge of having something he thought he would never have…a true and proper girlfriend. His mind tried not to agree, but deep down his heart couldn't agree anymore.

The recess bell rang- indicating the end and that it was time to return back to class. The boys had just finished tidying up and picking out a few things from out of their own lockers.

"Come on dude, bell's gone." Stan spoke to Kyle.

But just as Kyle was about the follow the others, he heard a voice crying out for him from directly behind him. "Kyle……Kyle! Wait!"

Stan and the others had already begun to make their way towards the classroom. Kyle turned around and saw Sarah jogging up to him – which had suddenly raised a smile back up onto his face.

"Hey Sarah, I was looking for you all recess, I thought you hadn't come to school at all."

"You were looking too?"

"Huh?"

"I was looking for you……Heh, we were looking for one another, and yet we still didn't bump into each other." Kyle laughed slightly. There was a brief pause of silence as they both looked down at the floor and put their hands behind their back like a clash of who could be the most shy to speak. "So anyway, did you get a chance to listen to my phone call last night?"

"I sure did." Kyle replied in a convincingly cheerful tone. Sarah chuckled slightly and looked back at Kyle.

"So, I bet you've been guessing and anticipating what I've been wanting to give you as your little surprise, right?"

_You've no idea Sarah _"I sure have."

"Well…what I wanted to give you………was this……" Sarah looked at Kyle with a cheeky smile on her face. Kyle was slightly puzzled. Sarah was giving him a strangely cheerful smile, but Kyle hadn't seen Sarah smile like this before. And just when Kyle was not expecting it, Sarah launched her head forward and gave Kyle a huge kiss on the lips – giving a seemingly loud kissing sound as she did so. Kyle's eyes widened and the feelings in his lips ignited with a roaring wave of delight and excitement; the level of which was never ever any higher. Sarah leaned forward slightly – her lips pressing against Kyle's lips and sending Kyle bending backwards a bit. There was only one word that could describe what Kyle was feeling like at this particular moment in time: _WOW!_ Sarah finally managed to let Kyle go – moving back again and standing straight; whilst looking at him again with her usual happy smile once more.

"Did you like your little gift?" Sarah asked in a cheeky and funny manner. Kyle said nothing. The shock on his face was still there and could clearly be seen. "Well, we better get to class." Sarah walked off down the corridor. Kyle turned around and watched Sarah walk down. "Well come on then, you don't want to be late too, do you Kyle? You C.C.J.." Sarah chuckled in a girlish high-pitched tone. She knew that Kyle knew what C.C.J. stood for; it wouldn't have taken a genius to work it out. She found herself re-naming Kyle as it since she thought it suited him best – Kyle Broflovski; a Cute, Cuddly Jew.

Kyle continued to stare and stand in shock. But his shock quickly faded away and was replaced with an even higher level of happiness and delight. "WOW…does she……does she actually 'love' me?" The smile on his face rose even further. "Maybe IT IS true then……maybe…after all this time…after all this time of being alone……I……I actually have someone who I can talk to closely……I finally have a girlfriend……and no one's against it……SWEET!"

Picking up his bag and walking off down the corridor, he finally managed to catch up with Sarah and the two kids had just made it back into the classroom.

Meanwhile, Kenny was in one of his concentrated modes again. Ageliss and Divelia had been talking to him again in his mind.

"So that's basically our plan Kenny, do you understand?"

"W-w-w-wait a minute, all that just like…went right over my head. Can you explain that to me again…but in a way that I'll UNDERSTAND please?"

"Oh come on Kenny, it wasn't that difficult. It's basically just a matter of you guiding them to the location; we merely knock 'em out…"

"Knock 'em out?!"

"I mean put them to sleep and then we take you and the three boys away from this place for a certain amount of time until the time's right to return back here."

"Errrrr…well…that sounds a little bit strange."

"Look, just trust us on this Kenny - we know what we're doing."

"OK, so tell me the full plan, just so that I know what you're actually gunna do."

"Alright, here's the plan. First, I need you to get all three of them out into the parking area of the school round back – make sure no one else is there too. Then what we'll do is……"

Meanwhile, a seat forward, Kyle was talking to Stan.

"Dude…you'll never guess what's happened to me?"

"What?" Stan hardly looked interested.

"The girl I'm sat next to…she kissed me properly…it was awesome."

Stan's eyes shot to life. He looked at Kyle in disbelief. "What? She kissed you? You mean Sarah- THAT girl?"

"Yeh!"

"Woah dude!"

"I know, I was shocked – she actually kissed me; out there, right in the middle of the corridor…" Kyle suddenly went into flash-back mode – head leaning on one hand and his eyes half-open. "Oh Stan, you have no idea how much that felt good."

"Dude……honestly……do you like her…as in…LIKE like her?"

Kyle turned back to face Stan. After looking down at his seat table for a second and thinking about it, Kyle finally gave Stan an answer. "Yeh dude…I do. And I think she feels the same way about me too."

"Well…good for you dude." Stan looked away. Though he was happy for Kyle at the fact that Kyle had finally found a girlfriend, there was a certain feeling in his mind that made him uneasy – something wrong that he didn't want to exist in his head – it almost felt like jealousy.

"Pssst." Sarah grabbed Kyle's attention and passed him a note under the desks. Kyle opened it up and looked at it. It was a message of some sort.

**XPVME ZPV MJLF UP DPNF BOE XBUDI NF BOE NZ GBNJMZ QFSGPSN BU B DPODFSU HJH BU UIF TQPSUT DFOUSF JO EFOWFS PO UIVSTEBZ? (QMFBTF TBZ ZFT!)**

Eye-brows raised and mouth open, Kyle had no idea what that message meant – it was certainly not English.

"Hey Sarah, is this like in Chinese or sumin?"

"Nope, I've coded it."

"You've coded it?"

"That's right. There IS a message there, all I want you to do is try and crack the code. If you manage to figure out what that actually says, then you'll be able to read what it says. What do y'say; will you give it a try?"

Cracking codes was not one of Kyle's specialist subjects. But since it WAS from Sarah, his mind and heart said different. "Sure, what the hell."

"Great…if you can't decode it by tonight, then I'll ring you up and tell you what it really says."

"Cool…thanks." Kyle got straight to work in trying to crack it – scratching his head and looking down at it in deep focus.

To the other side of Stan, Maxwell was looking over at Kyle once more. _What on Earth are those two doing? I hope HE isn't causing any trouble! _Maxwell looked forward again – keeping a close eye on Kyle now and again as the lesson passed.

An hour and a bit later, lunchtime had come and Kyle was still trying to figure out what the heck the message was saying. Something so simple to understand was staring him right in the face, yet he couldn't decode it and work it out. Unaware to Kyle, Sarah was a huge fan of puzzles and code-cracking. There was never a time where Sarah wouldn't be trying to attempt a crossword or word search at home – maybe even trying an odd game of sudoku now and again. Like her mother, Sarah had such a keen interest in Maths and Problem solving. Sarah's mum was a Maths teacher at a college in Manchester and her skills with numbers, symbols, formulas and mathematical problems had been passed down genetically to Sarah. One of Sarah's highest and most proudest moments was winning a National Mathematics Competition – only a few days before that saddening day outside the cinemas. Sarah said on winning the award she wanted to thank her mum for helping her gain this great skill and dedicated the award to her mother for everything she had given to her over the years – and now all those thanks meant so much more now that Sarah's mum and dad were no longer with them. But Sarah would always remember her mother whenever she saw something mathematical or code-related – it never made her sad; it always brought a smile to her face. And writing out her own puzzles, codes and maths problems allowed her to remember the happy times she spent with her mother back home in Manchester.

"Dude, are you still trying to work that thing out?" Stan asked as he, Kenny and Cartman sat down with their lunch at the same table Kyle was sat at.

"Yeh, it's so confusing – I don't know where to start."

Sarah came walking over to the table with her tray in her hands.

"Hey guys…mind if I sat down with you four?"

Stan, Kenny and Cartman looked at Sarah in confusion. They never would have expected that a girl would ask to sit next to them. Cartman knew exactly how to respond.

"Yeh we do actually!" He replied – scoffing his face with a fattening sandwich.

"CARTMAN…" Kyle yelled in an annoyed voice. "Sure Sarah, of course you can sit with us."

"Cool, thanks." Placing her tray down on the table, she sat down next to Kyle – something which slightly surprised Kyle but surprised the others a little bit more. "So…I see you're still trying to crack that little code I gave you?"

"Yeh…you sure have made this one tough."

Cartman suddenly butted in. "You see guys, this is why Jews can't be Computer Programmers, they can't even crack or even make simple codes like this."

"SHUT UP FATASS!…" Kyle yelled back. But just as he was about to hand the code over to Cartman and try and get him to decode it – knowing he obviously wouldn't and would make a complete idiot of himself, Sarah butted in.

"EXCUSE ME…but just to let you know, I'm half-Jewish myself and I find that VERY offensive!" She yelled at Cartman in an annoyed tone of voice.

"What a crime." Cartman replied in his usual non-caring sarcastic tone.

"Just ignore him Sarah, he's an asshole when he talks about Jewish people like me."

But Cartman wasn't finished yet. He aimed his voice at Sarah once more. "So you're a Jew too huh? Well I guess not all Jewish people are hopeless at confusing things like that then. But I wouldn't be surprised if your mam and dad are hopeless just like my friend Kyle is…pure Jews I guess wouldn't be able to do this at all. You should consider yourself lucky you're not like your parents."

But it was at that point that Cartman had gone way too far with his comments. Sarah sat stunned and shocked at what she had just heard. Her face suddenly started shaking slightly. Her eyes squinted and without warning, she burst into tears and began to run out of the lunchroom and down the corridor. Shocked at Sarah's actions, Kyle turned to Cartman again with an angry look in his eyes.

"YOU ARE ONE F---ING ASSHOLE CARTMAN!"

Kyle was the only one to realise why Sarah was crying. For it was Sarah that told ONLY Kyle about why they were here in South Park and about their parents' sad deaths. Cartman had gone too far and had blindly upset Sarah dearly by saying cruel things about her mother and father – something that Sarah didn't ever want to hear since negative comments and the cruel fact that they were now both dead didn't mix well at all when Sarah had heard it.

Kyle stood up and tried to catch up with Sarah who had already caught the attention of everybody in the room. "SARAH…WAIT!"

And right at this specific point, Maxwell had just come out of the lunchroom collection area and had spotted his sister in tears running out of the lunchroom. He knew his sister Sarah all too well to know that only something deeply depressing could have upset her. But all he saw was Sarah standing up and running off in tears – along with Kyle running after her shouting 'SARAH……WAIT!' – wrongly making it look like that Kyle was the one that had upset Sarah. Maxwell clenched his fist, placed his lunch tray on a nearby table and walked out of the lunchroom – following Kyle.

Maxwell stopped and hid behind a corner of the corridor – out of sight from both Kyle and the people in the lunchroom. Kyle had stopped in the corridor. Sarah was nowhere to be found. The school corridor fell silent. Kyle walked back to the lunchroom – now slightly saddened by Sarah's upset condition. But just as he was about to step into the lunchroom and back into sight of everyone else, he was pulled back and forced onto a nearby wall by the might of Maxwell's overpowering strength. Maxwell grabbed and barged Kyle's arms up against the wall and looked him straight in the eye with an angry look on his young face.

"Let's get ONE THING STRAIGHT. No one and I mean NO ONE…ever upsets my sister – especially someone like you."

"No no wait, please, you don't understand."

"DON'T I? I know f---ing well what you just did, don't lie to me Kyle. You may look all nice and caring on the outside, but I've been around people for too long to realise that you should never judge a book by its cover!"

"But you don't understand…I didn't upset her."

"Sure you didn't…that's what the last one said when he first met her."

"The…the last one?"

"Boyfriend…the last BOYFRIEND! If I knew where that f---ing prick was now, I'd smash his face in. If only I knew that he would eventually take advantage of Sarah and do what he did…"

"Do what? What did he do?"

"Does it look like any of your f---ing business?!"

"No, I'm sorry…I'm sorry for asking…please…let me go."

"Why?"

"Because…because……"

"Because what?!" There was a brief silence. "SPIT IT OUT!"

"BECAUSE I LOVE HER!"

There was shock on Maxwell's face. He had realised Kyle and Sarah were close like friends, but not this close. Could it be true that this kid really DID have a crush on his sister AND vice versa? "You……you love her?"

"YES"

Maxwell's face quickly returned back to anger. "And you think I'm just gunna let you get on with your little GAME?"

"Game? What game?"

"You know dam f---ing well what game I'm on about – taking advantage of Sarah and then doing something awful to her in the end. That's what the last one did – he made us think he was nice and caring and then right at the end, he stole the one thing that Sarah cherished the most…her priceless family heirloom pendant and then disappeared from the area completely. You could never guess at the level of depression and shock Sarah was in when that happened. And because of what's happened just now in the past………but that's not any of your concern."

"But I know……I know your parents died…and I'm sorry!"

Maxwell was in even more shock. The shock froze his arms over and he let go of Kyle. He turned around and leaned over against the wall. A few tears trickled down his face. Kyle could hear and sense that Maxwell was upset about it all – he was everything Sarah could ask for as a brother. Maxwell would never let anything happen to his sister – even in the most difficult of situations like this.

"I…I suppose she told you DIDN'T SHE?"

"Yeh…yeh she did Maxwell. She told me the whole story. To be honest, I was on the verge of crying too."

Maxwell turned back round. "Alright…I'm gunna let you and Sarah do what you wanna do together, but just to let you know…I'LL BE WATCHING. Don't think I won't be protecting my little sister against anything this cruel, sick f---ing World might bring."

"I know Maxwell…that's what makes you a good brother." Kyle placed his hand on Maxwell's shoulder. But Maxwell looked down in disgust and threw Kyle's hand off – expressing that he didn't want Kyle's or anybody's sympathy. He walked off back into the lunchroom with his usual annoyed look on his face. Kyle stood in the corridor watching with a puzzled but sorry look on his face.

_Poor Maxwell, Poor Sarah. I wish I could do something to help them both……but what? I don't want Maxwell to hate me even more…but I don't want Sarah to think I don't care. Oh God…please…give me a sign. _"Oh well, back to cracking that code, I guess." Kyle walked back into the lunchroom.

It was now 3 o clock and the school day was over. Stan, Kyle, Cartman & Kenny were walking out the school front doors.

_Right, they said I have to get 'em round the back where they're both waiting……I guess…this is it. _Kenny readied himself and spoke out loud to the other three.

"Hey you guys. I forgot to mention, I wanna show you something really cool round the back of the school building."

"What?" Stan asked.

"Errrrr…it's a really cool…Ummmm…new driving car…machine……toy…thing." _Oh great, that sounds convincing. Good going Kenny. _He was already struggling to convince the others to follow.

"What kind of driving car."

"Ummmm, it's one of those new blue racing toy cars. You know, the one on TV."

"How would you know it's blue…your TV doesn't even have colour on it."

_God, he knows more about me than I do. _"Errrr well, I saw it in a toy shop too. Come on guys, it looks cool."

"Oh alright, but it better look cool. Plus, I don't wanna miss the new episode of Lost on TV tonight."

Kenny guided the three boys around the perimeter of the building. _God, I hope this whole thing works. I don't want 'em finding out what's really happened to me……so soon._

There waiting were two adults in black FBI suits and thick black shade glasses.

"Huh…hey Kenny…where's this blue car of yours then…you said it would be here. Hey wait a minute, who the hell are you two anyway?"

But just as Kyle finished what he was saying, the two FBI agents' hands started to glow with black and white light.

"What the……?" Stan spoke – shocked and puzzled.

"KENNY NOW!" One of the FBI agents yelled – allowing Kenny to both pull the draw strings on his parka hood even tighter and also cover his mouth and nose over with his hands. Out of the two FBI agents' hands, came this wave of strange gas-like light that covered the small area where the four boys were stood. As the gas surrounded the boys, Stan, Kyle and Cartman started to feel tired and sleepy and it didn't take them long before they became so sleepy that they all fell asleep and collapsed softly onto the floor. All three of them had got knocked out by some kind of sleeping gas.

The two agents started to glow and quickly turned physical shape. For it was really Ageliss and Divelia who were the two FBI agents – in a smart and supernatural physical disguise.

"So how come either of you never told me you could change how you look in human form?"

"You never asked." Divelia replied at which Kenny rolled his eyes and accepted his answer. Ageliss walked over and knelt to inspect the three other boys' conditions.

"Are they all alright?"

"Yeh, they're all Kenny…" Ageliss happily replied. "They all appear to be unharmed by that light gas. All three of 'em will be safely asleep until we get them back here to Earth."

"Thank God for that. Alright, so where are we heading?"

But before either of them could reply, they picked up each boy. Ageliss picked up both Stan and Kyle and carried the boys on either shoulder. As Divelia picked up Cartman and placed him in his arms, Ageliss grabbed Kenny's hand. "Kenny…we're now heading for Heaven."

"HEAVEN? You mean…the REAL Heaven you guys were going on about last night?"

"That's right Kenny. No human in the history of this very Universe has ever seen or even steeped inside the realm of the true Heaven. You're going to have the honour of being the very first human to step inside BOTH dimensions."

"HELL TOO?" Kenny was more shocked than excited. But he still couldn't wait to be taken to these new dimensions.

"Yep, alright here we go." Ageliss concentrated and a sphere of white light began to encircle and wrap around the three of them. It wasn't long before Kenny, Ageliss and Divelia (along with the three sleeping boys) were completely wrapped within a sphere of pure white light. And within a flash, the big sphere of light vanished within in an instant and Kenny was on his way to Heaven – the REAL Heaven.

And on the ground where Kyle had collapsed and fell asleep, lay the small piece of paper that he had been given by Sarah. He still hadn't decoded that message and thus, unaware to him, it was a personal message from Sarah:

**WOULD YOU LIKE TO COME AND WATCH ME AND MY FAMILY PERFORM AT A CONCERT GIG AT THE SPORTS CENTRE IN DENVER ON THURSDAY? (PLEASE SAY YES!)**


	12. Analysis 1

**Chapter 10: Analysis 1**

The dark being leaned his cold, striking body against the hard stone rocks. The forest seemed to give off a twisted dark tone around him - as if this wasn't a usual occurence. Xerok slowly slithered his warm hands out of his jacket pockets and opened out his left palm once more. The spherical ball of light appeared again and like before, he used his left hand and fingers to read, input and write whatever data he needed to place into this technological mass. He never expressed any emotion in the process - just a focused mediocre look directly on the floating sphere.

**iSpy Reconnaisence Juty A2-33Z Complete...**

iSpy was one of the most unique tracking devices that made up this unusual mysterious sphere of technology. Like all the other programs as well as he sphere itself, it didn't require physical software or even anything naturally physical to run on - it was a unique piece of equipment that Xerok seemed to use all the time. iSpy was a highly advanced sensor spy device that allowed reconaisence on any living being or animal to be possible. It used unique energy tracking protocols and sensors to allow Xerok to detect and monitor the positioning and movement of any being he chose to target and focus on. In thic ase, he had set the protocols to track Stan, Kyle and Cartman - though at times his curiousity led him to track Kenny too.

**Sensor Readings detect zero levels of biomass readings in nearby land radius. Increase Co-ordinate Radius Magnitude?**

**...Yes...**

**Radius Increased. Calculating energy level readings...Readings Confirmed - Zero levels of biomass detected.**

Xerok looked puzzled. He wasn't expecting such a result to be outputted. He tried a different method. He inputted a command into the program using a highly advanced programming language - a langugae that was definately not of human creation.

_**...dIm.RADIUS(MaG 3-3Dimension.SELECT;eNergy(HUMAN)REPEAT PREVIOUS COMMAND...**_

The sphere popped up a message. **New Reading Levels Set. Calculating energy level readings..._4 _Biomass Readings Confirmed. Readings appear to be located within the space-time gap between 'Earth' & 'Heaven'. Readings decreasing from 'Earth' Point Radius and increasing towards Heaven Point Radius. **

_So... _Xerok started - talking to himself in his mind. _...those two think they can protect those four by taking them into that dimension. Heh, I guess they've got enough intelligence to realise that along with the other dimension, they're the only places I can't go. I guess I'm stuck with pausing my current status until they return back in this dimension._

He closed down his technological sphere of light and closed the palm of his right hand. He stood back up and wiped of the few flakes of snow that were leaning on his jacket. Brushing himself off, he beagn tomake his way out of the forest - going in the opposite direction of where the residentail area was. He looked up at the clear blue sky and stared. _You can't hide forever. I don't care if that kid comes back here being a totally different being, you STILL won't stop me from getting what I want._


	13. Heaven & Hell A Reality Check

**Chapter 11: Heaven & Hell – A Reality Check**

Brightness was all around him. Even with his eyes firmly shut, Kenny could feel there was bright white light surrounding him even at this present location. He slowly opened his eyes – still holding firm grip of Ageliss' hand and looked around in shock and surprise. It was just like what Ageliss had said – it was nothing like the Heaven that he had known and what other people had believed. There were no fluffy clouds, clear blue skies and golden gates in this Heaven. Instead, the real Heaven was a realm of purity. The ground as white as light and walls that seemed to be an infinite distance away – indicating that this wall part of one mammoth stretch of landscape. The sky was a marble-styled mixture of white and cyan blue with tiny nano-like spots of black in the upper atmosphere. The land wasn't perfectly flat but it was near enough. But what was more surprising, was that Kenny was picturing this as some sort of light version of Earth. And indeed it was – rich green and brown trees, pure light blue rivers, strong, noble canyons of great length, width and height and a city in the near distance – of which most of the buildings were white.

"It all…it all looks just like Earth…only…lighter."

"Well that's one way of putting it. Heaven's almost like a new version of Earth – only bigger and much more pure in light. There's nothing dark or dark-related in this realm, only light-based matter and light-based beings."

"Beings? But I thought you said no humans have ever been in this realm before."

"No, not humans…beings originally from this realm…those that have existed in Heaven throughout the whole of time. Come…I better take you down to the main colony so that you can meet a few of the population."

"OK, let's go." But before Kenny began to walk, he looked to his right and was shocked to see Divelia was nowhere to be seen. "Hey, wait a minute, where's Divelia. He was here just a moment ago."

"Don't panic Kenny, he's fine. Divelia's a dark-based being and since he's originally from Hell, his existing self can't survive or even exist in this realm, since this is Heaven after all. The same goes for me – I can't go into Hell because I'm a light-based being."

"Oh…right, I get'cha."

"OK then, come on, let's head down to the main city."

Kenny and Ageliss made their way down the grassy hill that they had been stood on and down onto the main field. In Heaven, the grass was white – as if it had been frozen over; something which surprised Kenny slightly. As they both made their way over the fields, Kenny started to notice there were a lot of free flowing white particles of light and matter floating through the air. It reminded Kenny of those little particles you could only see in rays of light and sunshine, only bigger. As Kenny was walking, the particles seemed to follow him – floating and swiftly swaying their way around him – in front of him, beside him and even behind him. Even at times, the particles would brush up against him and almost give him little warm kisses on different parts of his body. Kenny was baffled by their strange pattern and activity, but he started to get the feeling that these little white particles were more than just random spheres of free-flowing energy and matter.

Twenty minutes later, Kenny and Ageliss had finally reached the city perimeter. Kenny looked up at the city's structure. They were not like Earth structures – there was no evidence of metal, steel, wood or any other form of physical material or matter here. Instead, the city structures and buildings were merely comprised of cubes, cuboids and several different complex 3D polygon shapes. They moved on.

Ageliss held Kenny's hand and guided him into the city. The paths were a mysterious diamond-like white colour and the structures radiated a warm wave of white light. It didn't take long before Kenny was noticed and spotted by the beings of this realm as he passed by. They were all not like human species or even of a physical type, but instead, these beings were merely floating spheres of white and light blue light – covered in a radiating shell of white wave-like energy. Kenny could easily hear the large groups and numbers of beings talking about him and looking at him.

_Oh man, I wish I knew what they were saying about me._ Kenny kept looking as did the Heaven beings at him. Ageliss led him into a bright white building. Although very bright and blinding from the outisde, the interior of the building contained a very warm atmosphere. The grand halls and corridors that made up this large structural building received the bright light of the outdoors through the holes and windows of the structure and there was a very spiritual and welcoming mood around the place. Kenny couldn't help but look everywhere around the corridors as he walked through the grand rooms of this huge building.

Eventually, Kenny was led aong with Ageliss into a fairly big gathering hall. Entities of white spherical energy were hovering in the central area - as if they had been waiting for Kenny's arrival for a long time. As Agelis and Kenny walkee closer, they took what looked like human form - dressed in cloaks and church-like uniforms and staring straight ahead.

"At last, you made it." One of the beings began as the two finally stopped in the central area of the hall.

"Yes, Divelia's has taken the two with him into Hell. We discussed during our journey to this diemension that it would best if those two boys were with him at this present moment."

"We understand. We had just received a telepathic message from the beings of Hell saying that Divelia had made it there safely with the two boys known as Kyle and Eric."

_Woah woah wait a minute...Kyle and Cartman aren't here?! _Kenny started ooking around nervously. He hadn't realised that both of them weren't here. Ageliss had been carrying Stan on his shoulder, but Kenny had been focusing on inspecting Heaven too much to realise the other two weren't there.

The Heaven beings looked down at Kenny with curious smiles. "So...this is the Guardian child by the name of Kenny?"

Kenny hid behind Ageliss like any shy or nervous kid would. Peaking around the corner of Ageliss' clothing, the lead being smiled and raised out his hand to greet him. Keny looked puzzled. He looked up at Agelis who simply nodded and smiled. Kenny slowly opned out his hand and softly and carefully grabbed hold of the being's hand. "Pleased to meet you child, my name is Haraylo - I am the leading being of this dimension we call Heaven."

"Errrrr hi...my name's Kenny. But I guess...you already knew that huh."

Haraylo smiled and knelt down to Kenny's height. Slowly folding back Keny's hood on his jacket and carefully removing it from off his head, he inspected Kenny' young and shy face. "You look just as Ageliss described you would be - young, mature and full of life. I know you won't let us down Kenny." He turned to the other Heaven beings. "You two."

"Yes sir?"

"Take our young friend Kenny into the waiting room, me and Ageliss have some matters we need to discuss."

"Yes sir." The two guard and soldier-like beings each took hold of Kenny's hands and slowly walked him into a far corner of the hall.

Ageliss and Haraylo walked over to a seating area where a row of seats were - positioned like that of a church or a cathedral.

"So what exactly did the beings of Hell tell you and say to you in that message?"Ageliss asked - sitting down on a seat next to where Haraylo was.

"Well...Divelia's taken both of the two boys into the lower level of the under-Hell region."

"Where most of the bio-colony is?"

"Correct. One of the soldier beings of Hell is going to send and watch over the one who needs to go to the 4th dimension very soon."

"Already?! Isn't that a little dangerous. I mean surely we should let kore natural time pass, you and I both know that they along with anything else can't survive for long in that diemension - that place is cold, dark, tight and empty, it's the worst possible place in the whole existence."

"I hate to say it, but we're left with no choice. If Xerok manages to sense, detect and even scan the whereabouts and precise location of either of the four boys, it could mean that he could possibly come after them once his REAL power has come back to him."

"True, but I hate the fact that we might be running a risk here."

"Don't worry Ageliss. The Hell beings will be able to use their dark-based energy to protect him while he's there. After all, Hell and the 4th Dimension have similar matter structures so it's not as dangerous and lethal as you might think."

"OK, I trust you." Ageliss looked over at Kenny - who was having fun playing around slightly with the two other soldier beings on the other far side of the hall. "So when exactly can we get them all into incubation. Kenny's bodily condition is well above the normal level and I analysed all four boys' body conditions - they're all showing acceptable high levels of positivity."

"Well then, I guess we can get it started then. Tell the communiction wing to make contact with Hell to say it's alright to put the boy Kyle into incubation mode."

"Right, and you?"

"I'll take care of taking these two to the incubation core underground. MOTHER's probably expecting them soon so I better get things under way. I suggest we start with infusing the child with our soul energy first. His body'll probably accept much quicker if we start with the Heaven energy."

"OK, I'll make my way to the incubation core once I'm done." Ageliss walked off down a seperate corridor. Haraylo looked over at Stan who was lying down fast asleep on a softly-made bench near the room's centre. He walked over and picked Stan up - placing him over his shoulder and walked over to where Kenny was sat. Kenny was still playing around and messing about with the two Heaven beings who had kept him in close attention for the required amount of time.

"OK Kenny, it's time for us to take you somewhere."

"Take me somewhere? Oh I get it...you're going to take me to like...one of those huge training rooms or sumin to make me stronger snd teach me a load of new skills, right? Aeliss said he was going to help me train and get much stronger or sumin."

_So, Ageliss had managed to keep it a secret well. I feel guilty creating the lie, but I guess this was the only way to ensure Kenny's receives what we have to give him. _"Yes...you could say it's something like. Now...I just want you to relax...and let us take you to the incubation core deep underground."

"Incubation core? What are you talking ab..." But before Kenny could continue, the two soldier beings grabbed his arms tight and forced him to turn around. "Hey what's going on, what are you doing?!" Kenny couldn't move. The soldiers had him pinned down on the floor. Haraylo looked down at Kenny and took out what looked like a syrringe of some kind with a full amount of blue-coloured liquid in it. He immediately injected it into Kenny's back - at which Kenny gave off a loud cry of pain. But his cry soon faded away to a tired silence as the injected liquid began to make its way completely through Kenny's body and eventually, it caused Kenny to fall asleep.

"Now then, you two, pick up Kenny and follow me to the underground levels."

"Yes sir." The two soldiers both picked up Kenny from off the floor - each carrying a seperate half of Kenny as he remained fast asleep much like Stan.

As they walked off into the dimly lit shadows of the building's coridors, Ageliss meanwhile was walking down another corridor and thinking to himself about what he was going to do concerning another problamatic factor at present. "Hopefully it won't take them too long to get that message I just sent them. But I'm going to have sort out this problem of telling the boys' families where they are. I can't tell them the truth, but I can't even speak to them as I am now." He stopped - sitting down by the ground's corner and thought for a moment. "Ah I know what to do." Suddenly, he stood back up and disappeared within a flash.

Meanwhile in the deep warm red, purple and black surroundings of the dimension known as Hell, Divelia was sat on a fairly big black rock staring at Kyle's body which he was keeping up floating with his some form of telekinetic power. The skies of Hell were the complete opposite of Heaven - crimson red, black and purple with white spots here and there. The land was spiky and covered in plains of black rock.and red rivers. Although the rivers looked like they were full of blood, the liquid itself wasn't. It was more of a thick gooey red liquid that trickled and slowly oozed its way down the many streams of the black land. As tall mountains and lightning covered the horizons of the land and the sky, Divelia stood up and walked over to where Kyle was. As Kyle floated in mid-air like a puppet, Divelia looked at the surroundings and back at Kyle.

"I know you probably think that you know how your World works and how this whole Universe exists in itself..." He lifted up Kyle's head to look at him in the face. "...but whatever you know is not true. I wish you and the others could learn and know this now, but I'm afraid you can't. But like Ageliss, I feel guilty hiding and lying to both you three boys AND Kenny - Kenny should really know the truth behind why you three boys are so important to protect. But until the time's right, I feel like we have to do this." He turned around and closed his eyes - sighing. "Even if we are lying to the only boy who can save more than just his own World."

"Divelia...DIVELIA!!" A voice shouted from a corner of the cliff Divelia was stood on. A female demon-like being was floating up the side of the cliff.

"Ah Evril, you're finally here." Divelia replied - turning to his left to see the young beautiful demon float and fly up to his side with her seemingly big demonic purple and black wings.

"The underground core just received a message from the beings of Heaven. They've sent Kenny and the other young boy into MOTHER."

"Then I guess we best do the same..." As he slowly allowed Kyle to float down into his arms, he passed him into Evril's arms. "...Here, take good care of him on the way."

"But, wait a minute, aren't you the one who's supposed to take this child to FATHER deep underground below the city?"

"No...I've decided not to. I want to take the other kid to the 4th dimension."

"WHAT?! You can't, they told me that I had to take..."

"Evril please. It's something I want to do...I don't know why, I just feel like I have to go there. I want some time to myself while I watch over him...please."

Evril looked at the young demon for a few seconds before smiling. "OK, I'll tell them you wanted to deal with my task instead." Evil turned around and walked up to the edge of the cliff - ready to take off with Kyle in her arms. She looked back. "Divelia...do you really think we're making a difference?"

"I hope so. All we can do is protect these three boys...and put all our faith in one young little boy."

With that said, Evril turned back around and flew off into the dark red sky. As Divelia watched her disappear into the black clouds of Hell's skies, he began to walk down the small path by the side of the cliff.


	14. Reunion

**Chapter 12: Reunion**

_The coldest form of evil in the whole of existence…the darkest heart of all beings……and the blackest soul to ever walk the ground of our dimensions…HA, sounds as if my presence has indeed enshrouded a cloud of fear around their insolent little minds. _As Xerok gazed out of the window of the coffee shop, he reflected upon how his corruptive reputation had affected the very Universe over the centuries. He had no feelings for how his evil had shaped the entire existences. The only thing he did care for was his own lust and greed for total dominance and power in the Universe. But he was secretly able to shroud all that under a barrier of human existence as he sat by a usual customer table in the town's local coffee shop on the main street of the town. Sipping a hot cup of black coffee, he looked out of the window and out onto the open snowy plains as if he was waiting for something…or someone.

"Here you go little boy, the bill."

"Thanks." Xerok replied without even looking at the woman who passed him the bill slip. Xerok shape-shifted a hand full of money from out of thin air and placed it on the table – out of anyone's eyes. Snatching his jacket from off the chair, he placed it around his boiling body and walked out of the shop – slamming the main door behind him and heading up the main street. _Who would have thought this World could make such a good drink yet be so pathetically boring at the same time. _Xerok couldn't care less about the planet Earth, he hadn't been focusing on the planet's possible beauty to change his decision…Xerok was too cold and dark a being to be converted by anything apart from a change in lusting power.

Suddenly, Xerok sensed something. He stopped – creating an empty circle around him that divided against the crowd of people who were walking up and down the street as well. Xerok scanned the area like a hunter beast; he had sensed something odd and very unusual. He smiled and cockily brushed his black hair back up with his fingers. _So…he's returned. What a fool…he goes one thought too far to think about his own safety. _Xerok turned around slightly and within a small twitch of passing time, he disappeared – completely vanishing from the existence of that present place. _You better be ready to see a familiar face AGELISS…because I am. _Xerok thought as he rushed across the invisible cloaked existence of time.

Meanwhile, on the other side of South Park, Ageliss had just appeared back on Earth from Heaven. He was stood just outside Stan's house and looked up at the housing structure.

"Right, this is Stan's house, I'm sure of it. I better get on with convincing the boys' families about their mysterious disappearance. I regret not asking Divelia to help me out, but I'm sure I can handle this little problem myself. Now then, what did I turn into back at the elementary school…ah yes, that's it."

But before Ageliss could do anything, a small icy twitch landed itself in the back of Ageliss' mind. He could sense something…something bad, and Ageliss knew it. He had a definite feeling about what he was sensing but he hoped that it wasn't true. He slowly turned around with a worried but braced look on his face and to both his shock and expected surprise; there on the other side of the street road was Xerok – hands in his jean pockets with an evil smile on his face.

_Xerok, he must have known I was here. _Ageliss didn't know whether to fight or run. The cold icy feeling running down his back froze him in his tracks and caused him to stand still in complete shock. Xerok walked over the road – the clinking and clanking of the heels of his shoes echoing down the seemingly quiet street. He stopped – about a metre or two away from where Ageliss was standing.

"Hi, long time no see." Xerok spoke still having that unusually evil smirk on his face.

"Xerok…" Ageliss tried to remain calm and focused. He wasn't afraid of Xerok, but merely shocked by Xerok's presence so early in time. "…been a long time since I saw your face."

"Two hundred and sixty three thousand, four hundred and sixty six years to be precise. And there hasn't been a single day that's passed where I haven't been thinking about how I'm going to crush you and your little pathetic beings up there in your precious dimension." A wave of wind was let loose from around Xerok. Ageliss skidded back slightly. "You'll never know just how lonely and angry I felt for all those years. That…4th dimension – so cold, lonely, silent and dark – and it was all thanks to you and your friend Divelia. But……I guess you never expected me to break free from that tight isolated prison did you?"

"I have to admit you impressed me. But you're still as sick and twisted as you were all those centuries ago."

Slightly angered, Xerok unleashed a wave of force on Ageliss – grabbing him and flinging him over onto the street. Ageliss coughed and started to pick himself up again. "You pathetic puny little angel. You could only dream about realising what I really am. But even if you knew, I'm sure you'd realise you no match for me. Pity you didn't finish me off when you had the chance back then."

Ageliss started laughing. "I knew it was a cold place in there, but I never knew that dimension could do so much damage to your brain Xerok. You must really feel stupid."

Angered again, Xerok picked Ageliss up with his own dark telekinesis power and punched him into the distance. Ageliss crashed against a lump of rock and fell back down onto an area of snowy grass. Xerok calmly walked over to where Ageliss lay – smirk still showing. "Tut tut tut, insolence can be such a harsh thing on any being – including yourself Ageliss. Oh I get it……you're actually putting all your faith into one little boy. You actually think that one pathetic unit of wasted life on this boring little planet can kill me or even stand up to me at least. And you're staking the fate of all three dimensions just for this. You really are nothing but pathetic – just like the rest of your beings."

"Yeh, well there's one thing you should know about us Heaven beings, we never just give up. NOT WITHOUT A FIGHT…" Without warning, Ageliss leaped up and spawned a blade of white light from his hand and swung directly at Xerok. But Xerok was more than quick to react and created the very same thing – only black with colour. Ageliss tried to push his blade further towards Xerok, but Xerok wasn't even trying. Xerok was just too strong of an opponent.

"Don't think I haven't learned anything over these past centuries. I've had QUITE A LOT of time to think to myself…and I know you Ageliss. Those puny strengths of Light & Dark have no effect on me now – it's me who's the strongest now." Xerok pushed his blade forward – immediately shattering Ageliss' blade of blue and white light and sending him crashing onto the snowy ground again. Xerok pointed the blade towards Ageliss' head. "You do realise I could just kill you now……" He smiled again "…but I'd prefer it if you were still around to see your pathetic dimension fall." His blade disappeared and he began to walk off in the opposite direction – fading away and vanishing into the thin air as he walked. Ageliss stood back up and looked in Xerok's direction for a few seconds.

_How do we beat…a monster like that? _Times had changed since Ageliss had last fought Xerok and he realised that. But for the time being, there were still more important matters to focus on. He walked back towards Stan's house and shape shifted his body into the human adult form he used from before.

As it seemed the plains of snow and few grass blades were silent again, out of nowhere Maxwell appeared walking over the fields towards the residential area. _Right, that's the last time I take a detour over the field. _He sipped the last drops of his Luke warm drink and realised something. _Shit, what the fuck am I doing all the way over here?! I've gotta be back home now. God, I bet they've been waiting for me for hours._ Maxwell ran across the field – snow jumping up and melting quickly on his camouflaged white shoes and red socks as he dashed through the deep level of snow that had set on the fields.


	15. Meanwhile

**Chapter 13: Meanwhile...**

The door flung open. Maxwell was out of breath and out of energy. As he leaned his tired hand on the side of the wall, he looked down to catch his breath.

"There you are. Where the hell have you been?" Josh spoke at which Maxwell looked back up.

"Ah sorry 'bout that, I forgot we were doing a practice play today."

"Well we are. Don't worry; we're not doing it until James gets back."

"Until he gets back? Well where is he?"

"He's gone to get some fireworks."

Maxwell laughed with the small amount of air he'd managed to recuperate. "Oh God, is he in one of those moods again?"

"Afraid so, but he said he wants to let some off since IT IS two years since 'you know what'."

"Oh…right, I see. But he's still too young ain't he?"

"Well he says he's got one of those stupid fake ID cards and he says that the people up here are probably too stupid to realise anyway."

"True probably."

"Anyway, I'm setting up the drums, amps and speakers in the garage. Why don't you go dig out your Guitar or sumin just to pass the time."

Maxwell nodded and decided to head upstairs into his bedroom.

Maxwell and Josh knew very well what kind of character James was. He'd always been a very energetic and optimistic young lad for the whole of his life and due to his past life, he'd had been through the loudest and roughest of situations. Back when he used to live in his hometown of Liverpool, James used to love setting off fireworks or any kind of explosive on a quiet and isolated area of grass or field with his old friends and mates. Fireworks, dead grass, aerosols – James loved the strange enjoyment behind it. But that aside, James was very much into music. In Liverpool, he was part of a group of street musicians called the Liverbeats – a fairly large group of DJs and rappers who would meet up at a secret warehouse or hideaway and would just make and sing to music all night long. And it was in this that James a popular figure. At the time he was nearly the youngest in the group, but he was known as a talented DJ and rapper – DJ Jingo they used to call him. There was never a time where James wouldn't produce, rap or remix a tune that everyone enjoyed. But like all good things, they had to eventually come to an end.

James could remember like it was yesterday – yesterday being a blinding and twisted flash of gunshots and screaming. James was being taken to the Liverbeats usual meeting point in the outer areas of Liverpool by his mam and dad when out of nowhere, giant 4x4 people carriers surrounded the car and the people inside started shooting at it – trying to aim at James and possibly anyone else in the car. James barely survived this chaotic drive-by shooting…but his parents did not. To this day, no one has any idea why James was targeted like that in such a fashion, but it left an upsetting memory permanently etched into James' mind. And out of respect and loving memories, James would always light and set off fireworks to remember his dead parents – James' mam and dad both worked in a Liverpool fireworks factory and it was the only way that James could pay respect to such a loving family that he once had. But it never let it get to him – he would always remain the happy, funny and at times silly little Liverpudlian who enjoyed messing around.

Maxwell passed Sarah's bedroom door and noticed that she was sat by her cream-coloured desk – looking as if she was drawing something that was out of Maxwell's sight. Unaware to Maxwell for the moment, Sarah was drawing a picture of herself and Kyle together in a green field holding hands. A typical young girl's drawing for when anybody was in love. (even if they did deny it to everyone else)

"Hey what's that?" Maxwell spoke to Sarah's shock.

"Oh errrr nothing." She quickly flipped it over

"Wait a minute…you were drawing a picture of you with that boy Kyle weren't you."

"Yeh so."

"And you still love him?"

"I don't LOVE him Maxwell. I just y'know……see him as more than a friend."

"How can you even be friends with him after what he did to you yesterday?"

"Huh?"

"Don't pretend like you don't know Sarah! I saw him upset you in the lunchroom. And you're just gunna forgive him after that!?" Maxwell was starting to get annoyed.

"Maxwell I have no idea what you're talking about! Kyle didn't upset me……" Sarah realised. As she traced her memories back to Friday lunchtime, she remembered what exactly happened. "Oh God, Maxwell. You saw me crying next to Kyle and put two and two together and made seven didn't you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Kyle wasn't the one who upset me. It was that stupid thick fat boy that upset me."

Maxwell sat on Sarah's bed and put his head in his hands. _God, I am such a fucking idiot. _"I can't believe I yelled at him. I yelled at him thinking that he was the one who upset you." He looked back at Sarah. "Sis, I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking."

Sarah smiled. "It's OK bro, I know you're only trying to protect me and I thank you for doing that. But I hope you understand…Kyle's not like any of the other boys. He's a really nice and kind person. Kyle's been the only one in that school who's really made me feel at home here…and I'm sure he wants to do the same for you."

"But……I feel really guilty now that I treated him like shit for all that time. I'm such an idiot."

"Maxwell…" Sarah walked over to him and gave him a cuddle. "You're more than what I could ever ask for in a brother and I'm glad I have you as my brother. Don't feel so hard on yourself all the time, I know you're still upset about mum and dad not being around anymore, but I know you, you're a strong character."

"Thanks, I guess that means you must be too to make ME smile again."

Maxwell made his way out of Sarah's bedroom.

"I hope you don't mind..." Sarah spoke - stopping Maxwell in his tracks.

"Hope I don't mind what?"

"I told Kyle that we were both half-Jewish. After all, he's Jewish too."

Maxwell turned around and smiled. "No...I don't." He walked out of the room and straight into his own bedroom. As he flung his hat onto the edge of his bed, he slowly sat down on his carpetted bedroom floor - leaning softly on the side of his bed. The pine structure was hard but comfortable to lean on. Maxwell picked up his Guitar that had been lying on the floor like some misused ragdoll. s he placed the body of the Guitar by his chest and legs, he firmly gripped the neck of the tightly packed series of strings and started playing a few random strings of notes. Random in sequence, Maxwell looked down at the floor as he did so. He had played his beloved instrument so many times that he had memorized every string and tuning position. There was a slight sad look on his face - less of an upsetting look, but more of a face of confusion hidden behind that downward shape of his smile and eyes.

The random sequence broke down. Maxwell began playing what sounded like a combination between a blues song and a ballad tune. The high-pitched emotional sounds of the blues strings combined well with the 5/4 rhythm of the ballad backing and slowly melted into Maxwell's focused mind. Maxwell knew that playing an instrument always helped him to think - people might have seen it as a distraction, but Maxwell was very keen on music and he believed strongly it helped to think better - especially about past events, present conditions and future possibilities. The sad look on Maxwell's face was getting fuelled by what happened back at school with him and Kyle. Maxwell realised just how much an idiot he had been and how he awfully pointed the finger at Kyle for what occured. _I know f---ing well what you just did, don't lie to me Kyle. You may look all nice and caring on the outside, but I've been around people for too long to realise that you should never judge a book by its cover!_ Maxell was embarrassed that those words had come from him in that kind of situation. True, he never did judge a book by its cover, but in this case, it had seemed that Maxwell had never had a look at what was written in the contents of the book entitled Kyle Broflovski.

sight got more

_But you don't understand…I didn't upset her. _The words circled around Maxwell's mind like a buzzing bee. _I didn't upset her...I didn't upset her...I didn't...upset her. _It was clear now - Maxwell had been such a cruel person since he first arrived that he was blinded by his own selfish awareness of what was going on. _Because...Because...BECAUSE I LOVE HER!_ He had been focusing on past events so much that he forgot to move on and let things in life go. He had been looking out for his sister too much to see that there were others out there in the World who cared just as much about Sarah as he did. He was now feeling guilty. He had stopped Sarah from having the life she wanted just so that HE knew she was safe. Maxwell was angry at himself. He was always a clear-headed thinker but he had let something so stupid and foolish get to him. Maxell continued playing, but the sad look on his face was gradually fading away. In its place came a fresh new smile - providing with it a fresh new positive melody on his Guitar.

"That's a nice little tune you got playing there." Josh spoke as he peeped his head around the bedroom door's edge.

"Thanks, I'm glad I'm back in the mood to play these kind of tunes."

"Well that's good to hear. Well, we're all set downstairs in the garage, so you ready to have a little practice."

Maxwell stopped playing and took a deep breath. Standing up, he slowly picked his Guitar up from off the floor. "Yeh...yeh let's play." As Josh made his way back downstairs, Maxwel walked by Sarah's room. Sarah had already made her way downstairs - leaving an empty pink and white coloured bedroom.

Maxwell spotted something. It was something he was aware of already, but the curiosity of understanding what it meant was too much to resist in his mind. A piece of paper was waving one of its tip edges up and down on the pine writing table. Maxwell placed his Guitar down by the door and slowly walked towards the table. As Maxwell's angle on the piece of paper got further downward and more obtuse, the bright crayon colours became clearer and clearer. And as Maxwell was no more than an inch from the table, he was firmly in sight of the image below. And there was only one emotion Maxwell could express for the image - a smile. For what Maxwell was looking at, was a crayon-drawn image by Sarah of herself and Kyle holding hands in an abstract line-filled grassy field with a happy smiling sun. And at the bottom of the image read three final crayon words:

**SARAH LOVES KYL**

Smiling, Maxwell picked out a dark green crayon and filled in the mising letter of the final word. Sarah's message of how she felt was now complete.

**SARAH LOVES KYLE**

Maxwell picked up his Guitar and left the room - making his way downstairs to join the others who were waiting in the garage.


	16. A Slumbering Awakening

**Chapter 14: A Slumbering Awakening**

The area around him was warm. Liquid had surrounded him for so long as if he had been underwater for an eternity. But it was not water - the feeling of it came from a different source, something certainly not of an Earth-like origin. He slowly opened his heavy eyes - eyelids as pressurizing as lead weights. Light was something he had been limited to for some time now. But the area around him didn't supply much light - if not none at all. The only form of visibility was a radiation of soft red, black and purple material that seemed to be all around him. Eyes half open and his body feeling as if it had been on standby mode like some forgotten computer, Kenny looked to his right slightly. All he saw was a perfectly round sphere - a sphere which he appeared to be in. The sphere's radiation of warmth and comfortable heat was enough to keep Kenny feeling fine. The sphere was full to capacity of a strange red water-like liquid that was warm upon contact. But that was everything Kenny could see. The sphere was of a strange substance - a soft goey-like material that presented the outside surroundings as a translucent blur to Kenny's sight.

Kenny tried to move his arms and legs, but was stopped as if he were being held back by someone...or something. It didn't take Kenny long to realise what it was that was stopping him from moving. All over his bare naked body were cords and tubes that had been connected and latched to his skin like cables and sockets. And to top it all off, Kenny looked down at his lower chest area to find something else. Vision wasn't enough, the sense of feeling it had to be ensured for Kenny to accept what was going on. His hands were free to move about just, so Kenny slowly moved his hnads downward to feel one particular cord that had been connected to him.Kenny had a touch of it and his half-open eyes showed enough expression to show how much Kenny was surprised. Attached to his stomach area was what looked like an umbilical cord. Every cord Kenny was attached to seemed to go off in a different direction - straight from the Kenny, through the liquid and out of the sphere to wherever it ended. Kenny felt too tired to speak or even think for that matter - a never ending wave of fatigue, tiredness and drowsiness had engulfed him from the inside outwards.

But there was this strange feeling inside Kenny he had never felt before. Both a tingling and a buzzing sensation was flowing through his entire body and Kenny couldn't explain it. From the light top tips of his messed up blond hair, to the very bottom underside of his feet, he was feeling both levels of tingling and buzzing; the buzzing of a smooth warmth and the tingling of a cool flow. Whatever it was, it was new to Kenny's body.

There must have been at least 14 or 15 tubes or cords that had been connected to him, but Kenny suddenly found the energy to turn himself around. As he continued to float in this strange sphere of red watery liquid, he looked to his left. There before him was another sphere - the same size as the one he was in and the same colour and materialistic make-up. Kenny tried to tilt his head forward or even swim over to the edge of his encapsulated prison to see what it was. The chords on his back tugged him back, but he managed to just reach the edge. He pressed his hands up against the sphere's round wall. They were soft - plastic-like rubber and a bit gooey and thin. He could see a figure floating in the sphere, just like he was. Kenny pleaded to annoymous forces to let him pas further to get a better look, but he was stuck there. For now, Kenny was limited to the sight he had now. But he wasn't about to give up. He carefully analysed the sphere. Every second that passed allowed him to gain a better picture and image of the sphere and what was in it. Nothing but the slushing and bubbling of the liquid was heard. It was strange to think that even in the situation he was in, although the sphere was completely full of this strange red liquid, Kenny was breathing perfectly as if he were breathing the very air of the outside World.

The image became clear. Silence. Only the bubbling and trickling of slowly flowing liquid made any burp of a sound. Kenny could see now what he was looking at...it was a person - someone the same size as him. The body had become clear but the hair was still a bit of a blur. Kenny focused and used up all the lonely solated energy he had left in his tired body to try and see clearly through the translucent pair of sphers into the second body of liquid. Kenny's eyes shot to life - widening with rocket-like power. _What...is going on here?_ What he saw in that sphere was indeed a shocking sight to behold. But before Kenny could ponder at this anymore, the liquid in the sphere began to drain away - slurring and disappearing out of plug-sized open holes around the sphere. As he liqui drained away, something around both spheres began to open - slowly and very oozingly.

Kenny didn't know what to do, he didn't even know what was happening. But he wasn't ging to hang about to find out. Kenny began punching at the sphere wall to escape. But it was mere useless. Like punching rubber-like jelly, Kenny's hand simply went into the material and sprung immediately back out. And as he tried for a second time, a sharp spark started to flow through his body. The spark soon turned into a black-out as Kenny's eyes slowly closed again - his body now a floating image on the bottom of the sphere.

Pitch black. Sight had abandoned Kenny for the meantime. He felt as if he was in some kind of vegetated state but knew he couldn't do anything to perform basic things like move, open his eyes or even speak. All he could do was lay with a continuing vision of black in his eyes and silence in his ears - putting all his blinded trust in the presence of the beings who were moving him to somewhere else.

_How is he?_

_He's fine...they're both fine. _He was unaware of the voices around him - just the feeling of being moved around and taken somewhere.

_That's abolutely great to hear. I was afriaid that it were too soon to infuse him with it._

_Well it looks like he's alright. I guess we can class him along with his friend as one of us now._

_Yeh, us and them at the same time._

_So where do we take them now._

_Well we need to do some post-testing and analysis first. Once that's done, we can send them back into Heaven to rest._

_We'll need to give this one a PHAMEF just so that he's protected from the light matter of Heaven for the time being._

The silence continued for a further five days. Time passed much quicker in either Heaven or Hell than it did back on Earth. Where one day had passed on Earth, six days would have passed already in the other three dimensions. Earth along with the physical cosmos followed a much slower structure of time flow than that of the other three dimensions. The beings of Heaven and Hell couldn't explain why this occured, but believed it was because the physical Universe had a more closer core bond with the structure of relative progression and structure in the Universe. Five days may have passed in Heaven and Hell, but it would have been Saturday Morning in America on Earth.

Five days felt like an eternity to Kenny. But after a seemingly continuous isolation away from what was going on, Kenny slowly opened his eyes once more. He had been sleeping for five days straight and it didn't do him any good for his eyes. At first his sight was a blinding sore, but Kenny quickly became adjusted back o the reality of images. The blond-haired young boy was lying in a white sheeted bed - thick warm duvet and all white covers and sheets. He looked to his left and right. Kenny was no longer confined to a strange sphere full of red liquid. Instead, he was lying in bed in a fairly big white circular room; open window, outside balcony, marble stone walls and a warm white light filling the room. The peaceful sound of birds and wind whistling filled the outside and the nearby area of the room. Kenny felt like he was in hospital - some form of luxury hospital with excellently decorated rooms and private rooms for each patient. But in this case, Kenny appeared to be the only patient in this hospital of sorts.

Kenny pulled back the quilt and sheets. He was dressed in a tyical white gown - not as typical as hospital clothing but still quite similar. He moved to the edge of the bed and looked around the room again. He had already been to Heaven, but never expected a dimension of this kind would have rooms of this quality and style. As his legs were swinging and hanging off the edge of the bed, Kenny realised that h felt different. The buzzing and cool twitching feeling from before was back. It wasn't anything like a headache or migraint or something like that, it felt more like a buzz of strength - physically, mentally and spiritually. But exactly what? It led him into a deep thought of confused feelings.

Without hesitation, Ageliss walked into the room - happy to see Kenny again, alive and well. "Ah, good to see you're up - that was a pretty long sleep you had there."

"Really? How long was I out for?"

"About five days."

"Five days?! Jesus...what day is it?!"

Ageliss smiled - quickly realising what was worrying Kenny. "Oh don't worry about that. Time flows much quicker up here and in Hell too. Where five days have passed here it'll probably still be the sixh day of your Earth week."

"You man it's still Saturdy on Earth?"

"That's right - so relax Kenny, we realise you want to get back to school on time."

"Get back to school? Yeh right, I just want to make sure I don't get grounded or anything for not being home or even on Earth for that matter."

"Well there's no need to worry about that either. I diguised myself as that guy I turned into before and told you and your friends' paents that we had to take you to some kind of secret place in America for questioning."

"Oh come on, yer' could have come up with something better than that."

The two laughed slightly. There was a brief moment of silence. Kenny made his first steps onto hard ground for the first time in six (non-Earth) days. Ageliss walked up to a nearby wardobe and open the double doors. Hanging up were a pair of light blue shorts and a plain white short-sleeved T-Shirt. Ageliss walked outside onto the open balcony. Kenny didn't need to ask to realise that those clothes were for him. It didn't take him long and as soon as he gotten changed, Kenny made his way out onto the balcony to join Ageliss. The two stared out onto the horizon for a brief moment - taking in the beautiful sight of Heaven's fields and grassy countryside-like plains. Heaven's star sun was shining bright and clouds had decided to call it a day to leave a clear white and blue sky. Ageliss dropped a part of his smile and looked down.

"I suppose you're wondering what happened then?"

"You suppose?"

"I'll take that as a yes then...you're not mad are you?"

"Should I be?"

Silence. Ageliss looked back up at the horizon. "Well all I can say is sorry. We were afriad that if we told you what we were planning to do to you, you would have refused our help. We had no other choice."

Kenny smiled. "Believe me...with everything you've opened my eyes to, I would have accepted anything that would have came my way."

"Or in your case, anything that's now inside you."

"Huh?"

Ageliss took his hands off the marble and metal railings and stood straight again. Taking a deep breath, he looked at Kenny. What the seemingly now 15 year old looking angellic being was about to tell Kenny, would change Kenny's understanding of who he himself really was forever. "You see Kenny...goodness how do I explain this...you're not...you anymore."

"...Huh?"

"We...changed who you are now."

"...Huh?"

_Goodness, Kenny's not making any sense of what I'm trying to explain. I better just tell him._ Ageliss braced himself and prayed that Kenny would accept what he had to say. "You're no longer a pure human Kenny."

"...W-what do you mean?"

"When we knocked you out cold when you were in Heaven before, we took you into a secret deep underground area of Heaven that only the most advanced beings of Heaven like myself can go. And it was there...that we...changed you. For it was there that we placed you inside MOTHER."

"MOTHER? You man like a mom MOTHER?"

"Not exactly. You see Kenny, MOTHER is a highly advanced organic being - a being so highly advanced and much more smarter, sronger and physically advanced than humans. In order to awaken your true self and bring out these new strengths and powers within you, we had to...give you...to MOTHER."

"Give me?"

"Yes. MOTHER took you into its being and genetically altered you."

"...Altered me? Into what?"

"Not into anything...you're still human...well, a third human. In order to bring out these light powers you have, MOTHER had to genetically and physically infuse you with both the DNA and blood of itself and us - the beings of Heaven."

Kenny was shocked. He stared at his hands like some kind of guilty bloody murderer "I'm...I'm an angel...like you."

"In a way, yes. But that's not all. In order to bring out your dark power and balance out the existence of the newly gained angellic DNA in you, we had to send you to Hell and allow the demonnic beings of Hell to infuse you with their blood and DNA once you were carefully placed inside their advanced being...FATHER." Ageliss took another deep breath. He knew it was all too much for Kenny to take in, but he had no other choice - he had to know what was now the truth. "But you weren't the only one who had to be infused with other kinds of blood and DNA."

"What are you talking about - there's no other people that are he-" Suddenly, it hit Kenny. That image of another figure in a 2nd sphere of red liquid came back to him. Kenny realised who was in that sphere next to the one he was in. The final piece of the blurry image had eventually cleared itself for Kenny to see. The figure's hair was tall, bushy and of a red colour. It was Kyle. "They infused him with that DNA the ones in Hell have, didn't they?"

Ageliss nodded.

"So I'm presuming you did the same with Stan and Cartman."

"Yes." Ageliss nearly felt ashamed at what he had helped done, but he knew that it was the right thing to do.

"So then...why?" Kenny didn't know how to feel. Should he be angry? However he felt, he wanted his questions answered.

"It's complicated...but trust us on this."

Kenny waked slowly back and forth to think for a moment. Ageliss was woried what Kenny would say back. Anger, acceptance, confusion - it could have been anything. "OK...OK...tell me that from now on, they'll be alright and they'll act, talk and all that...they'll be exactly like they were before we left Earth. Tell me that and I'll believe you."

Ageliss looked down.

"TELL ME!!!" Kenny let loose an unpredicted roar of a yell.

"...They'll...be alright, I promise."

"OK...I trust you on that." His voice quickly calmed down. There was something in the back of Kenny's head telling him to not to trust Ageliss - that he was lying. But why would he? Kenny started questioning his own thoughts and beliefs. Would Ageliss lie? Especially to Kenny? Probaby not. "So then...where are they? Can I see them?"

Ageliss turned back around and smiled. "You sure can." He pointed over to another nearby balcony - a balcony which seemed to be part of another seperate room of the same building. "All you have to do is _fly_ over there and take a look for yourself."

But before Kenny could change into his angel form, Ageliss quickly butted in.

"Wait, Kenny, you don't need to do that anymore."

"What do you mean? I need to do that to get over there. It's not as if I can just fly over there as I am now."

Ageliss smiled. "Don't you remember - you're part angel now. the DNA of angellics has given you more skills than you had before." He paused for a second. "You can bring out your angel wings without turning into angel form. Go ahead, try it, just like you would try to turn into an angel."

"Oh alright, I'll _try_."

Kenny closed his eyes and started to focus. Immediately, Kenny started to feel a soft warming tingle comig from his shoulders. He opened his eyes. Shock on his face. There he stood; still human, still as he was before. But now, he had his angel wings. The soft huggable pair of white wings drafted themselves up and down slowly. Kenny looked to his left shoulder and slowly placed his right hand on his left wing to feel it. The warm, feathery touch sent a tingle through his hand and past his elbow. _OK, here I go_ Kenny lifted himself off the ground. Feet hovering above the white stone ground, he slowly moved himself over the gap between the balconies as Ageliss watched on in delight. Kenny landed back on stone ground. His wings hadn't disappeared - Kenny had his attention focused now on something much more important. He walked slowly into the room - seemingly identical to his room only opposite in reflection. As he expected, there were three beds in the room - two were hidden in enclosed cubicles of square curtains and a material covering on top. But it was the third unenclosed bed that Kenny made his way to first. And there, lying under the thick white quilt and warm bedhseets was Stan - sleeping with what looked like an oxygen mask over his face. His longish short black hair had grown slightly - most of the front bits had made its way over his forehead and were in touching distance of his eyes.

_Well, at least I know Stan's OK. _He moved on to the next bed. As he gripped the edge of the first set of square curtains, Kenny braced himself for anything unusual. He pulled it back. There were mixed emotions in Kenny's mind. Like Stan, Kyle lay sleeping in bed with an oxygen mask on. However this time, Kyle was encapsulated in what looked like a dark red shield. The bright glass-like shield surrounded the whole volume of the bed.

"Ah, I see you're next to Kyle." Ageliss spoke - appearing from the open balcony door with his wings out as well.

"Yeh, what the heck is this thing anyway."

"It's an EMCAMPS - Electro-Magnetic Capsulating Anti-Matter Protection Shield. Because Kyle's got DNA of the demons in him now, his body can't withstand the matter make-up of this dimension now. So in ordr to prtect him the light matter of this place, we had a barrier installed around him that stops the matter getting to him. That small encapulated space he's in contains anti-matter which Hell is partly made up of. The shield simply stops a chaotic reaction take place between the matter and anti-matter."

"Ummmmm...right, OK. A bit sciency, but I think I got the jist of that."

"Good. Well then Kenny. Are you ready to go?"

"Go, go where?!"

"To hell, of course. They need to speak to you about the other side of what's happened to you. Once that's done...then I think it'll be time for you to return back home...to Earth."

"Really? So soon?! And what about these three - will they go back with me as well?"

There was a brief pause. Ageliss closed his eyes and took a deep breath. There was a nervous look on his face. "Well...I'll let the demonic beings explain that to you. Now come on, they'll probably be waiting for you. Go back to room - your other clothes are in a drawer next to that wardrobe. I'll meet you back downstairs once you're ready.

Kenny walked out of the room and back into his own. _Ah, it'll be good to get back wearing my orange jacket again._


	17. Part I: Analysis 3

**Chapter 15a - Analysis 3**

In a dark and damp snuck of a dark twisted cavern, Xerok stared down at the terminal screen of his digital sphere - uniquely twisting, moving and changing the direction of his fingers to input, retrieve and explore the data that was stored on his uniquely mysterious sphere of light and technology. There was a very disturbing smirk that had cracked its way out of his sinister inside and made its way out onto his face. The way in which he quickly and calmly twitched his fingers in movement was certainly something to be impressed over. Like a computer genius having the time of his life, he certainly was a professional at working with technology - at least at this level of advanced calibur.

Xerok was sat down - leaning his back on the grey rocks behind him. The cave was only small - big enough to fit a fairly big tent in. But as its sight became more aware, it seemed to feel more like a gap in the wall than an actual cave. Nevertheless, it was a perfect hideout and place of secrecy. Dimly lit by the outside sun and echoing the sound of dripping icy water in the dimmest of places, there was a nervy feel to the surroundings - as if it were about to enclose on its captive. But even something so mentally scary could never stand up to the twisted sinful evil that was Xerok.

_Perfect _His smirk raised even higher. _That kid has no idea just what I've got in store for him. _His fingers twitched a bit more.

**Biomass Scan Confirmed - Subject 'Kenny McCormick - The Guardian' is moving towards dimension _Hell. _Secondary target still in capable scan range. iSpy reconnaisence co-ordinates confirmed - transferring data to missionary log.**

_As long as I still have tracking sight of my other target, things are still going according to plan, just as I expected. And once they return back to this dimension, I'll have all five targets in sight. They have no idea just how dangerous a game they're playing whilst I still exist. _

Proudly smug and confident about his own opinions, Xerok opened up a new page in his personal log on his data sphere screen terminal.

**oPEN.New-Journal-Entry-Today,1.876.24:76L : Reconaissence and observation duty has all gone according to plan. My iSpy operation device was able to monitor 'the secondary target' closely without getting detected. It seems that I'm ready to initiate the alpha stage of my secondary-sector objective in this mission. It's also come to my attention that 'The Guardian' has changed genetically. Biomass readings confirm he is now 1:1:1 in ratio split of human, angellic and demonic DNA. I laugh at the possibility that they are already becoming too afraid of my presence that they needed to achieve that plan so soon. I guess my return has caused them to shake in fear - exactly how I wanted them to feel. **

**But I'm even more surprised that they decided to infuse the other three humans with the DNA they had intended to provide so soon. They must have lost their minds - well, at least what they have left of it in their pathetic little heads. Unless they intend to keep a difficult secret to themselves and not tell McCormick the truth behind it all, than I must be blind to their true intentions. Nevertheless, I'm not going to let something so ridiculous as this get in the way of my objectives. I've already started work on tactical plans into how I'm to approach the three. The Guardian must be taken care of first, but finding and hunting the three down will not be easy. Knowing how this race of puny life works and functions, they do not take kindly to the existence of un-natural entities just popping up so sudden as this. Further work into this is required.**

**One detail still bothers me so. How I am to deal with 'the secondary target' and the current situation that surrounds it. Having a limited knowledge of human emotions and expressions, I find thing such as 'love', 'friendship' and 'respect' as pathetic and laughable as the very humans that walk this big lump of rock and metal. Predicted approach - study the activity of this being closely. Maybe I will find a weakness to this being's characteristics and expressions. Maybe then I will be able to use the target to my advantage. Yes, things are indeed going well. And yet, I find myself still having to hide in this pathetic shadow of the land when I could just be killing people for my amusement. But still, secrecy of my whereabout are important if I am to maintain the maximum success of this mission.**

**cLOSE.Entry-SAVE.Entry(New)_RETURN TO PREVIOUS WINDOW_**

**RecallOperationiSpyRETURN TO HOME CORE------cLOSEsPHERE­dOWN**

The light from the sphere slowly faded away and disappeared. Xerok sat in darkness - dim streams of light being the only source of guidance in the cave now.


	18. Part II: Back To Earth

**Chapter 15b – Back To Earth**

The ball of white light that had suddenly appeared in the middle of a field had been there for some time. It didn't matter – there was no one around that could see and there possibly wouldn't ever be anyone since the road nearby was all but abandoned. It seemed that it lasted a longer time to transport from Hell to the Mid-Balance and then finally back to Earth. The Mid-Balance was in a way, the half-way point between the dimensions of Heaven & Hell. Completely black and white in colour – with no indications of dimensions, size, width & height, it acted as the ante-room of dimensional transportation. It was the only dimension that all three beings of humans, angels and demons could exist and maintain their visibility in. No one could quite work it out, but the Mid-Balance had uniquely been able to correctly balance out the amount of matter and anti-matter (both in light and dark form) that made up that section of existence. Angels and Demons proclaimed that this was the more controlled and functional form of the 4th Dimension – more expressed than compressed, as they would always say.

The first one out of the spherical portal was Kenny – now back to wearing his completely covering orange parka jacket and matching brown trousers. Not too close behind were both Ageliss and Divelia – helping to carry the other boys who were still sleeping. Kenny looked at his watch:

**SUN 19:34**

It was Sunday evening – they had arrived back on Earth in time as Ageliss had promised. The sky was fairly dark in colour – only the warm and melting orange horizon of the sun gave off any remaining light of sunshine. The portal disappeared. Ageliss and Divelia began trying to stand the other three boys up. It was certainly a difficult task – humans never really could stand up straight whilst they were sleeping unless it was within a sleep-walk. But in this case, it wasn't – their bodies were relaxed and they had no idea of anything; after all, they were asleep. Kenny started smirking at the possibility that the three would collapse onto the ground once they were left as they were.

"Alright, I don't think this is going to work." Ageliss spoke – finally accepting the obvious human's sleeping disability.

"You don't THINK?" Kenny proclaimed in reply – getting some sense of enjoyment out of the two's worthless attempts to stand them up without falling back down again.

"Ageliss' right…" Divelia began "…we'll have to use some kind of kinesis to make sure they stay standing."

"Kinesis? What, you mean like, psychic stuff?"

"Kind of Kenny, kind of. Watch."

Ageliss and Divelia put the three boys back onto the pavement ground. With careful and specific movement, Ageliss and Divelia lifted all three of them up from a lying down position to a standing up one – still remaining asleep.

Kenny was impressed. _DAM – I gotta learn how to do that. _As he watched on, he saw Ageliss and Divelia step back a bit – with their focused hands still raised slightly.

"Alright Kenny, this is a bit of a difficult one, but let's hope this works."

"Hope what works?"

"We're going to disappear back into your mind. However, once we do, you'll be in control of this."

"WHAT, you mean; I'll be doing this……" _DAM, what's it called again? Ah, screw it! _"…this movement thingy?"

"Yeh, but don't worry – it's not difficult."

_Yeh sure, for you it isn't. God knows how many years you've had practice with this stuff. _"Alright sure, whatever."  
"Great, OK, here we go."

As Ageliss finished what he had to say, the two of them began to fade out and disappear into Kenny's mind. As their energy-forms bonded to Kenny again, he realised that his hands were slightly glowing. He was in control now – he was standing the three boys up. _This is all too fucking weird, right here._

"Alright Kenny, go stand next to them just like you would normally."

"Wait, I can move whilst still doing this?"

"Of course – just make sure you don't drop your hands or you'll lose it."

"OK." Kenny walked over – hands still raised and stood at the far right position of the group of four. "Alright, now what?"

"I'm going to send a little activation pulse that'll wake all three of 'em up. Once you here a little ping in your ear, you can put your hands and arms back down."

"You can wake them up just like that. Heh, I don't know whether that's more weird than cool, but I'll just say 'whatever' again and let you do what you have to do."

It didn't long for Ageliss to do so. The small high-pitched ping echoed in Kenny's right ear. He quickly dropped his hands and arms – hoping he wouldn't look like an idiot now that they would in a second, not be sleeping now and would instead, be awake once more. Their eyes shot open as if they'd just been charged with 4,000 volts. Everything went back to normal again. They were awake and they were back to how they were from before.

"Dude, where the hell are we?" Kyle asked – majorly confused about their surroundings. Nothing but a road, a pavement and a huge field of snow was certainly not what he was expecting.

_Oh thank God for that. They're back. _"Don't worry guys; I don't think we're far from home. I think we just follow this road and it'll take us up to where all the houses are."

Stan inspected himself for a second. He looked at his hands and arms with a confused look on his face. "Hey, can anyone just remember what we've been doing all this time. I mean, all I can remember is being at school on Friday……"

"Yeh, and it's Sunday night now. Where the hell have we been all weekend?" Kyle added.

"Oh Goddamn it, why did I have to miss the friggin' weekend too?!" Cartman shouted – certainly the more annoyed of the three.

"Kenny…" Divelia began – talking telepathically to Kenny in his mind. "Don't worry about that, Ageliss came up with an alibi for where you four have been over the past 2 Earth days. Just tell 'em they'll found out when they get back home."

"Ummm guys…" Kenny began – speaking now out loud "…I think we best get back home. Maybe I'll parents'll know where we've been."

"Our parents? Dude, WE should be the ones who know where we've just been. By the way, how come we CAN'T remember anything over the past weekend?"

"Because you were taken away by a Government agency for questioning for the whole weekend. They then wiped your memory of anything and everything you said and did over those last two days. Say that Kenny."

"What? Is that the reason you guys came up with?" Kenny back to speaking in his head.

"Well it was the only decent thing I could come up with…" Ageliss now speaking. "…Don't worry; I'm sure they'll believe you."

"Alright if you say so." Kenny gave the three boys the reason. Once Kenny had finished speaking, all three of them had confused look on their faces. But there was one thing they couldn't get their heads around.

"But wait, if our memories were wiped clean, how come YOU still remember it all?"

Kenny certainly wasn't expecting that. _AW SHIT – thanks a lot for the excuse guys. _"Ummmmm, well, I guess they forgot to wipe my memory clean completely of that weekend, huh?"

There was brief pause of silence. Kenny had a feeling that reason hadn't gone down well. He was preparing himself for the worst. His jacket felt like a hiding place for him at the moment. As things stood, he just felt like fastening his whole hood so that none of it could be seen at all. Finally, Stan gave him a reply.

"Well……it must have been one fucking weird weekend then."

"Yeh, come on let's go home – our parents are probably wondering when we'll get back." Kyle replied – at which he, Stan and Cartman began walking down the path back to their homes. Kenny remained standing in slight shock. Something so ridiculously silly that had been used a cover-up excuse had somehow worked – especially against two smart people and a fat-ass. _Well, I'm finally glad that's over and done with._

"By the way Kenny, there's one more thing we need to tell you." Ageliss spoke.

"Sure, what's that?"

"Well, now that you're part angel and part demon, you now have to make sure you keep up your strength and practice you new-found skills during any free-time you have during the remaining days here.

_Remaining days? What's that supposed to mean?! _"Right, so what – you're saying I should…like……train and stuff?"

"Exactly. If you can train yourselves and practice with your powers and skills during any free-time you have within an isolated place where no one can see or watch you, then you'll eventually get stronger and stronger. Soon, you'll finally be strong enough to face Xerok."

_God, they still want me to fight this guy! _"Alright, I'll do it. But I don't have eyes in the back of my head y'know – you'll need to help me in finding secret spots and places, alright?"

"Of course Kenny – we'll help you as best we can."

"Cool, then we're sorted then."

"Hey Kenny, COME ON!" Cartman shouted – ordering Kenny. "We're freezing our butts off here!"

"Alright, I'm coming!" Kenny shouted back in reply – catching up to the other three boys who had stopped only a short distance away.

Meanwhile, half a mile away in an enclosed, dark cave, Xerok sat by the cave's inner walls. He felt a little twitch in his mind – at which the feeling of it sent yet another one of his evil smirks crawling back up onto his face.

"**Perfect – they've returned."**


	19. Jewish Pride Unites

**Chapter 16 – Jewish Pride Unites**

Maxwell walked into a kitchen. It wasn't the same kitchen as the one in the present house, but it was a different one – it was the kitchen of his old house back in Britain. He opened the fridge and picked out the cool carton of apple juice from out of one of the fridge's container shelves. Closing the fridge door, he held the opened carton's mouth up to his own and took a drink.

"Hey!" A voice spoke from behind him. Maxwell turned around to see his mam standing by the kitchen shelves looking at him with a smile on her face. "Pour that into a cup – I thought I told you to never drink it out of the carton."

"Oh yeh, sorry mum." Maxwell picked out a glass from the side cupboard and poured some apple juice into it. He looked back at his mother.

"Well…put it back if you're finished." She continued to show a smile even if she was in a way telling him off.

"OK, sorry." Maxwell put the carton back in the fridge. Just as he shut the door and gripped the handle on the front of it, he slowly turned back around once more to see that his mother had disappeared – vanishing into thin air. Maxwell suspected it and his own smile soon turned into a half-sad look. _I'll always be proud of what you are and what you always will be son. And although I may not be there when you most need me, just remember that I'll be there within the deepest area in your heart and mind. I've made you happy over the years……now it's your turn to make others happy too. Don't let your sadness of me leaving you get in the way of your own happiness. I love you Maxwell…and I always will do._

Maxwell's eyes shot open. His vision slowly crept downwards to the sight of a thick red duvet over him. He looked to his right to see and hear the annoying alarm clock buzzing by his ear at which he slammed down on the off button. He didn't want that dream to end, but Maxwell was satisfied enough to raise a smile on his face. _Even when she's not really here she still tells me off for not drinking out of a cup……even in dreams. _He smiled again and lifted himself out of his bed. Dressed in a striped navy blue and white shirt and a pair of blue shorts, Maxwell made his way downstairs for breakfast. Once more had the weekend come and gone within a flash and it was back to Monday and the beginning of a new week on an early rising sunny morning.

A dozen houses down the street, Kenny had just got dressed having woken up much earlier. He still felt slightly dizzy but was much aware of his own physical and psychological feelings. He could feel the angelic blood rushing his veins to get him up and alive for the beginning of a new day. It didn't take long for Kenny to come out of his sleepy feeling. Having trained and exercised for the past three days in privacy, Kenny felt more like this so-called destined hero and saviour that Ageliss and Divelia had told him he would become. He could feel a wave of focus and deep inner strength flowing through his body – something of which he had never felt before and he more like a reincarnated being than a normal human being. But with him being a third human, angel and demon at the same time, Kenny didn't find it surprising that he felt like a new young little boy.

"Kenny, you're gunna be late for school, now hurry up!" His mother shouted – banging on his bedroom door as she did so.

"Yeh OK mom."

There was a certain level of positive feeling flowing through South Park today – something which hadn't been present for some time. And as the school day passed, there were a few who were more than happy to express some of that positive feeling to others. Recess had arrived and as usual, the kids of 4th grade were playing in the cold, snowy surroundings of the school playground.

Kyle was all by himself again. Sarah asked him to wait for her in an empty part of the ground yet Sarah was nowhere to be seen. _Ah man, I hope she actually comes. I don't want to look like an idiot just standing by myself like this…but if I don't stay here, she might come and……oh God._ Kyle felt someone had finally come over to him from behind him. He turned around hoping that it was Sarah, but instead it was Maxwell.

"Oh Maxwell…what are you doing here?" Kyle looked slightly worried.

"I just came over to talk to you, that's all." Maxwell replied with an unusually happy smile on his face.

"You're…you're not gunna hurt me are you?"

"Hurt you?" Maxwell looked baffled. "Why would I want to hurt you?"

"But……I thought you were angry at me about what happened before?"

Maxwell smiled again. "No…that was my fault. I jumped to conclusions about that. I wanted to apologize about that."

"You…you do?"

"Yeh……I'm sorry for treating you like dirt…and I'm sorry for not giving you a chance at first……plus……"

"Yeh…plus what?"

"Plus……I'm sorry for not letting you get to know my sister better."

"Oh…so you know huh?"

"Yeh, but don't worry about it Kyle…I'm cool about it."

Kyle looked surprised. "You are?"

"Sure I am……I can tell from only being here about a week or so that you're different from any of the other boys Sarah's been 'round. And I'm sure Sarah can tell that too."

"I don't understand…"

Maxwell put his arm around Kyle's shoulder and walked with him to a bench nearby. "I know that you know what's happened to me and Sarah in the past Kyle, so you don't have to pretend like you don't 'coz I'm alright about that." They both sat down on the bench. "I can finally see what Sarah finds in you. I can see that you care…you care too much to not care at all and I'm very grateful for that."

"It's alright Maxwell – I'm just that kind of person. But why the change in thought dude? Why are you talking to me like this now?"

"Because I've learned that I shouldn't just live in the past and try to maintain hatred on something forever." Maxwell laughed slightly. "Yeh, so what if an American shot my mam and dad and killed them, I miss them both; I won't deny that, but I know now that you should always give something a second chance. And I believe that that second chance is you." Kyle looked surprised. He wanted to smile but he was too shocked at Maxwell's sudden change of heart. "Kyle, I need to ask you a favour."

"Sure Maxwell what?"

"Well, it's kinda confusing and a bit strange…but…………would you show me and Sarah how to be real Jews?"

"What?"

"No, it was a stupid idea. I'm sorry…"

"No no, I didn't mean it like that Maxwell. What exactly do you mean?"

"Well…as you probably already know, me and Sarah are both half-Jewish and we used to feel really proud of our Jewish background even if we were kinda the only ones who were back home, but since we lost our parents, we've become kinda detached from it - we've forgot about who we really are, so will you show us how to be just...well…like you? Me and Sarah really want to make you feel like you're not the only Jewish kid in this town, plus we really wat to get to know you a little better."

"Really? You care that much about me being Jewish as well?"

"Bloody hell…yes, of course we do. Sarah's been in a very giddy and happy mood since she first talked to you and learned you were Jewish like her and it took some convincing, but she's finally convinced me to look out for you as well."

Kyle smiled. "That's exactly the kind of thing I've always wanted to hear. I've waited 9 fucking years for someone like me to come around and now that there's Sarah…God, I feel so much happier."

"Well…will you help us?"

"Sure I will. Just as long as you, Sarah and me can be classed as friends now."

"Heh, I thought we'd already decided that were true."

The two smiled and stood back on the snow-covered ground. "Y'know Maxwell, most new people I've met are usually strange or just totally retarded, but you and Sarah are different. You're like…British versions of me in a way or sumin."

"Yer' think so? Well I guess you must think just like me then – that the World can be pretty fucking stupid at times."

"Yeh……yer' definitely think like me that's for sure."

Maxwell placed his hands in his jacket pockets and walkd off into a short distance. But just as he started walking, he heard that someone behind him had just come up to Kyle to talk to him. It was Cartman. Maxwell turned around to watch the nearby conversations.

"What the hell were you two lovebird fags talking about?" It didn't take Cartman long for him to get on Kyle's nerves.

"Shut up fatass. Incase you didn't realise, I've just been talking to a new friend of mine - something which is completely none of your business."

"Ho ho, a Jew making a real friend - that's new."

"Are you retarded or sumin? Stan and Kenny are my other friends!"

"I meant with someone as stupid as he is."

"Don't call Maxwell stuid fatass! He's much smarter than what you'll ever be."

Cartman continued to idiotically annoy Kyle - unaware that Maxwell was watching nearby. The young British lad had heard enough. He decided to walk over the two.

"Hey, what the bloody hell's going on over here?" Maxwell asked - crossing his arms and staring sraight at Cartman with an annoyed puzzled look.

Cartman laughed. "So...you two are friends now. And here I was thinking you were going to beat him up only a few days ago."

"Yeh, well, times have changed yer' fat little f---er." Maxwell was starting to get serious in his tone.

"What did you just call me?" Cartman's voie was starting to build up too.

"I said you're a fat little f---er...f---er...f---...errrrrrrr."

"Hey, don't you call me that or I'll beat the crap out of you kid."

Maxwell laughed. "Me? Get beat up by YOU?" Maxwell looked down and quickly gave Cartman a trip on his foot. Cartman slipped and landed face first in the snow. Kyle smiled as did Maxwell. Cartman lifted himself up and wiped the wet snow of his face. His jacket was moist from the snow and felt slightly colder.

"You see...Cartman...if that's what they call you, I'm Jewish too. So whenever you make fun of Kyle for any reason at all - especially for being Jewish, you'll have me to answer to. And let me tell yer', I don't take shit from guys like you."

"Well, what are you gunna do huh, tough guy? Beat me up if I do? I'm like three times bigger than you."

"More like three times wider." Kyle replied - at which both he and Maxwell laughed. Cartman was pissed off now. He wanted to launch himself at Kyle. But the sight of Maxwell froze him in his steps for some awkard reason. His ignorant mind told him that Maxwell was just a pussy as Kyle was, but there was that other thought in his head telling him to stay back.

"I hope you see now Cartman, now that I'm around, you can't make fun of either me, Kyle..." Maxwell walked right up to Cartman at point blank range "...or even my sister Sarah, because if she's upset because of you, well...don't say I didn't warn you."

"Alright then, if this is the last time I get to rip on Jews, then..." He took deep breath. "Jew jew jew jew jew jew jew jw jew jew jew. Stupid Jew, Stupid Jew, LA LA LA LA LA!" As Cartman continued to sing his way through tis ridiculous abuse of both himself and Kyle, the two Jewish boys stood in confusion and annoyance.

"Right that's it." Maxwell had had enough. "Time for you to suffer just as much as Kyle has for all these years."

"Why, what are you going to do to me - tie me to the top of the flag pole or sumin?!"

Maxwell lookd over at the tall metal pole to see how high it was. Looking back at Cartman, he raised a smirk up onto his face. Before too long, the penny had dropped for Cartman. _OH, CRAP! _Cartman was going to get it.

10 minutes later, everyone in the whole of the recess playground was laughing thir heads off at what they were now witnessing. But no one enjoyed it anymore than Kyle. Kyle had sufered Cartman's bullying, abuse and criticism of his won religion, beliefs, thoughts and opinions for far too log overtime. But now, Kyle knew that it was payback - Cartman was getting just what he deserved.

Cartman was red with embarrassment. "HEY, GET ME DOWN FROM HERE! HEY, HEY!!!" The pain between his ass was reaching the unbearable point. Cartman could do nothing but soak in the shame and sheer embarrassment of himself. His underpants had been pulled up so much that they had been placed over the top point of the flag pole and then hookd around like a knot. Not only was Cartman stuck right at the top of the flag pole with his underpants raised so highly, but he was having to endure the punishment he had blindly put on himself for mocking Kyle for so long.

"Dude, how in the World did you do that?" Stan asked Maxwell - laughing along with everyone else as he spoke.

"Oh, I learned it in my old primary school - one of the oldest pranks or pieces of payback in school history."

"Well, he sure deserved it."

"DAM RIGHT he did." Kyle agreed - loving every minute of seing Cartman in embarrassing and humorous minor pain. "Hey, Maxwell, thanks...for doing all this. I guess I can class you now as a real friend."

"Well thanks for accepting me Kyle. I don't find it easy making new friends, but I'm glad you care."

"No problem dude. Like I said, I'm glad I can have someone, or should I say two people, that I can relate to and talk to a lot."

The recess bell rang. Everyone started slowly walking towards the building doors. Maxwell began walking too.

"Hey, dude, you're just gunna leave him up there?" Kyle wasn't worried, but curious as to Maxwell's decision to lave Cartman hanging.

"I think he deserves it. Let's say he stays up there for a little bit longer. For every time he's abused or mocked you, that's an extra second added on."

Kyle smiled and slightly laughed. "I wonder how many minutes you get out of 750 plus seconds."

"Jesus, he must have really annoyed you then if it's that bad."

"Trust me Maxwell, you have no idea."


	20. Some Marsh Words To Say

**Chapter 17 – Some Marsh Words To Say**

_Thank God, at least I can do something now that I'm actually really good at. _Sarah had waited all morning for this time to come. Mathematics was obviously her favourite area of learning and there was never a time where she struggled with arithmetic and basic calculations…unlike others. Sarah always used to enjoy maths challenges when possible in her old primary school. She could remember the days when the whole class would have a maths test – 40 questions on multiplication, timed and in complete silence. However, the only break from the silence was when the kids shouted out 'FINISHED' upon completing the sheet of questions. The teacher would then stop the stopwatch and mark down the time it took that person to finish and complete all 40 questions. The procedure would be repeated until the final pupil had finished their own paper. But by that time, the watch would have usually been down at an embarrassing ten or eleven minutes.

Maxwell only wished he could have the same mental strength as his sister did when it came to maths and even numbers as a whole. Sarah was a speed demon – a demon in the sense that she would always rush through the questions as if they were nothing. Yet, everyone was still amazed at even that speed; she still managed to get all 40 questions right. And her best time in doing so; 2 minutes 7 seconds – the current record for that fortnightly test of mathematical knowledge. Her amazing grace of speed and constant enjoyment of the subject was hard to ignore in the class. Her class teacher praised her for her effort and total commitment to the subject and believed she would one day blossom into a sweet young lady with an encyclopedia-sized mathematician's brain.

As Sarah was neatly fitting in the last of her school books into her locker, she suddenly realised something. She had forgotten to do something important which she had promised. _Bloody hell… _The fact smacked her right on the face. _I promised I'd tell Kyle something during recess……and I forgot all about him AND it. _She closed her locker with a slow gripping movement. _I better find him before maths starts in class. _Sarah walked off down the corridor. But just as Sarah walked around one corridor in her effort to find who she was looking for, Kyle appeared from the edge of another corridor – walking straight to his locker to pick out a textbook.

Stan meanwhile had spotted Sarah walking past him. Reminded by her presence, Stan walked over to Kyle to talk to him about something. As Kyle picked out his textbook and placed it in his bag, he spotted Stan walking up to him at the corner of his left eye.

"Oh hey dude."

"Hey…" Stan sounded less happy and intrigued than Kyle did. Hands in jacket pockets and an odd glum look on his face, Stan placed his bag down by the nearest locker. "Kyle, can I ask you something?"

"Sure dude, what?" Kyle replied – closing the door on his locker and turning to Stan. It was only now that he saw the full look of Stan's face. "Stan, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, nothing's wrong." Stan insisted – realising his emotions had been a bit too sad. "I just want to ask you sumin, that's all."

"OK……what?"

"It's just…well…" He wasn't sure how to word what he wanted to say. "……you are still my friend aren't you?"

Kyle was puzzled. _Is he for real?_ "Of course I am. What makes you think I'm not?"

"Well it's just……you seem to spend a lot more time with that new girl…Sarah." Kyle half-smiled. He knew exactly what was on Stan's mind and what was troubling him. "We're still cool…right?! I mean, you and me. We're still friends, right?"

"Of course we are Stan. I wouldn't just abandon you just because I've made friends with someone else – especially Sarah."

"Well that's good – I just thought because you and her were in…"

"What?! No no no no, we're not in love Stan! Jesus, what made you think that?" Kyle smiled – trying to lift the mood of the conversation but more importantly, trying to raise a smile back onto Stan's face.

"I dunno, I guess I wasn't thinking properly. I must have put 2 and 2 together and made 22."

"Well if you put the two numbers together, it does make 22 y'know."

Finally, a smile was lifted onto Stan's face. Kyle's humor never failed in helping Stan awaken the positivity into his emotions. "I mean, don't get me wrong. I think it's great that you've got two people you can talk to because Sarah and her brother are Jewish too, I just don't want to lose a friend, that's all."

"Stan, I wouldn't want to lose you as a friend. I'm not trying to push you away or isolate you; I still see you as my best friend."

"Really? You mean it?"

"Totally dude, totally."

The two smiled. Stan picked up his bag and placed it back over his shoulders. "Well, I was just checking. Don't get me wrong, I think they're both cool and everything, but I'm glad that they're not trying to like……y'know…steal you or anything."

Kyle gave Stan a reassuring little laugh – indicating that that was completely untrue. "Believe me, they're not. And besides, I think you should get to know 'em a bit better as well – they're really cool people once you've talked to 'em."

"Well, alright. If you say so."

Stan made his way into the class – the lesson about to start and the last few seconds of free recess time slipping away. Kyle looked onward and sighed slightly. _Did I just lie to Stan there or not? Do I REALLY love her?! Man, this is all too confusing to understand._

But before Kyle could step into the classroom too, a voice cried out to him from the right.

"Kyle……KYLE…wait!" Kyle turned around and was more than glad to see Sarah. She walked up to him with an embarrassed look on her face. She placed her hands behind her back and looked down at the floor. "Ermmm, I'm sorry for not turning up even though I promised."

"It's alright Sarah – I was chatting to your brother anyway. He seems a little different than how he was last week."

Sarah looked back up at Kyle. "Yeh well, he's changed now. No more of that nasty, bad-mood self now from him. Come to think of it, I've never seen him this happy." Sarah fished into her pocket to pick something out. There was a cute little smile on her face as she picked out the object from her jacket pocket. Carefully concealing it in the grip of her hand, she hid it behind her back for the time being. "Anyway, what I wanted to tell you before, was whether you'd managed to crack my code that I gave you on Friday."

_Oh shit, I totally forgot about that. _Kyle knew the piece of paper wasn't in this pocket. Something so important wouldn't have been left in the tight dark spaces of his jacket pockets, Kyle knew that. "Errrrrrr no, sorry. I did have a go – it was really hard."

Sarah chuckled under her smile. "I guess my codes are really challenging. Well anyway, the message on it translated to me asking you a specific question. And since you didn't manage to decode it, I'll ask you it now – would you like to come and watch me and my family group perform a kinda concert thing Thursday Night?" There was a second of pause. "It's at the Denver Convention Centre at 8pm. I'd be so happy if you said 'yes'." Sarah paused again – anticipating an answer from Kyle.

Kyle was stunned. His face portrayed shock, but his mind portrayed excitement. _She really wants ME to come and watch her. WOW, I'd love to see her perform on the piano. _"Will you be playing your piano?"

"Yep, plus the violin since I can play that too."

_How the hell can I say no to that?! _"Yeh, of course I'll definitely come!" Kyle replied – expressing the double confirmation of his answer.

Sarah started getting giddy. "Really? Oh thank you thank you thank you!" Sarah shot herself towards Kyle and gave him a huge kiss on the cheek – cuddling the living daylights out of him in sheer delight. Sarah walked off with a delighted look on her face. Her hands were both open – the object she had hold of had moved or been placed somewhere.

After staring in shock for a few seconds, Kyle's eyes closed slightly. A huge smile was radiated brightly across his face as he entered the classroom. He felt like he was swirling in a lake of clouds - a dream-like whirl of wind flowing around him like he was in Heaven or some other strange location.

_I wonder how long it'll take him to realise what he's got in his pocket? _Sarah could see him in the corner of her eye as she looked down. As Kyle sat himself down, the lesson began. Multiplication first off – Sarah's strongest and quickest area of the subject.


	21. Worries & Fears

**Chapter 18 – Worries & Fear**

It felt strange, but he seemed to enjoy it. The cool, crisp, clean air at dusk made Maxwell feel more alive. Like a buzzing beacon of heat, Maxwell slowly walked his way down an empty street just as the sun melted on the horizon and oozed itself a beautiful looking surrounding of orange, red and sunflower yellow in the nearby sky. The street felt very deserted – almost as if something apocalyptic had occurred prior to Maxwell presence. But it didn't bother him. As he walked down the centre of the road; hands in his pockets and gazing up at the multi-coloured dusk sky, he started to hear another set of footsteps in the background. They weren't close, but they were certainly echoing down the road.

Curious as he was, Maxwell stopped and turned around in a slow 180 degree spin. The sky was a darker tone to where his sight was – lack of bright warm colours gave way to a cooler mix of cyans and navy blues in the eastern sky. Maxwell began to see an image of someone slowly gaining distance from him. It was nothing but a blur for the time being. Maxwell squinted his eyes and tried to block out the blur. But still, there was no clear sight to who it was. But it wasn't long before the detailed look of the person became crystal clear to him. Maxwell's puzzled half-open mouth soon closed and expressed the sign of a smile. He knew exactly who was walking up to him. It was Sarah.

"Hey bro, what'cha doing out here?" Sarah asked – dressed in her typical cream-coloured casual clothes.

"Oh I just thought I'd take a bit of walk outside." Maxwell further raised his smile to a chuckling grin. "I feel kinda silly now, coz' I have no idea where I am."

The two were still a short distance away from one another, but Sarah could clearly hear Maxwell. Sarah smiled and raised a quick laugh. "Oh don't worry, I know the way home – I always seem to anyway."

Maxwell began walking towards Sarah. All his attention was focused on Sarah – the sight of seeing her smile always raised one on his face too. Without warning, Maxwell slightly lost his footing – tripping slightly on a raised bit of gravel and black stone on the road. His body moved slightly to the left. But as he resumed walking, something caught his attention. A blurry dark image had suddenly appeared at the corner of Maxwell's eye. Still smiling, Maxwell turned to the dark image. But what he would eventually see was certainly nothing to be happy about. A person – shadowed in a strange curtain of complete blackness apart from one specific area of detail, raised a gun towards Sarah; ready to fire and standing firm and strong.

The smile soon turned into a wide open mouth – amplifying Maxwell's cry to Sarah to get out of the way. Sarah's smile quickly dropped and turned to both confusion and fear. She slowly turned around – instinctively not listening to Maxwell's plea. But it seemed this time; her curiosity would cost her dear. Just as she had fully turned around 180 degrees exactly, the dark shadow-like being pulled the trigger. The loud bang of the gun was like a blade of fire to Maxwell's heart. Sarah was thrown back – into the air and crashing immediately down back onto the black gravel ground. A crimson-toned bloody stain dyed her cream polo-shirt.

Maxwell paid no attention to the major bit of detail on the being's head, his shock of seeing his sister on the ground in extreme pain and now hanging by a thread was too much to ignore. But as he sprinted over to Sarah to aid her, another bullet was fired.

But this time, the bullet had not come from the gun of the strange being. It had come from another source. A source that was standing right behind Maxwell. Maxwell's hands and legs suddenly felt numb – freezing over as if he had been standing in an arctic prison for too long. The numbness that was flowing through his body sparked and rushed throughout. It felt like it was coming from a source. A source that was somehow in his back. Within those brief few seconds of silence, Maxwell used what energy he had left in his right hand and reached for the middle area of his back. He rubbed the point of complete numbness for a few seconds and then looked at his hand again. It was what he expected. His hand was covered in deep-toned blood. Maxwell had been shot in the back………by a 2nd entity.

Maxwell collapsed onto the floor – angling himself as he feel so that he landed back down and touching the ground. Dieing with one last sight of the beautiful sky was much more promising than an endless blur of gravel and stone. But one thing still buzzed around in his progressively shutting down brain. _Who……who shot us?! Why?!_

Maxwell's head felt like a lead weight. He struggled to look straight on. His half-open eyes showed enough expression to determine how Maxwell felt about what he saw. Standing over Sarah's bloody body was a small boy-like being. But apart from his complete blacked out image, there was one piece of clothing that had Maxwell shocked - the boy-like being's green hat……the same one Kyle wore. But as it became clear, Maxwell realised, the being took the same shape as Kyle. It shocked him. Kyle had killed Sarah.

As Maxwell continued to breathe heavy breaths of thick air to keep alive, the 2nd being walked across to look at Maxwell. This being however was not completely curtained by black. Over a body of pure black, the being wore an unusually recogniseable jacket. _You……it's you?! But…why_ Right in Maxwell's sight, the tones of orange in the horizon sky had been outclassed by the strong tone of orange colour of the jacket – an orange hooded parka jacket. Maxwell saw nothing more. No face, no hand features, no hair, just a blank image of black – hidden slightly under a warm orange parka jacket.

The jacket-wearing being raised his gun – aiming directly at Maxwell's forehead. Maxwell heard the clicking of another trigger. He looked over. The Kyle-like being had also raised his gun. But not at him, but at Sarah instead, but he still looked at Maxwell with a blank emotionless face of blackness.

Maxwell screamed. "NOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

_BANG!_

Silence. Bright white light.

Maxwell shot up in fear. His bare chest rubbed against the warmth of his dark red quilt. It didn't take long for the fact to hit Maxwell right on the face. Maxwell had been dreaming – less of a dream and more of a nightmare.

_Oh thank God, it was only a dream. _Maxwell took half a dozen deep breaths and flung his quilt over to one edge of the bed. He sat up and moved to the open side. Hands leaning on his head, Maxwell looked down. _OH…GOD! _Maxwell didn't know whether to be thankful it wasn't real or simply burst into tears because of what he had dreamt. Sure of nothing, Maxwell got up and walked out of his bedroom. It was 3 'o' clock in the morning but he could see where he was going. First stop, Sarah's bedroom. As he slowly but carefully pushed the door slightly open, Maxwell peaked in. Sarah was fast asleep – clutching and hugging the top edges of her pink and purple bed quilt as she slept on her right side – facing Maxwell.

Maxwell closed the door again. His mind had gone blank – an empty stare of fear haunted his face, which by this time had turned whiter. Maxwell leaned up against the wall and slowly slid down until he was sitting on the carpeted hall floor – still leaning up against the wall. The floor banister was digging and pressing hard onto Maxwell's lower back, but he didn't seem to pay attention to that slight pain. An even bigger pain had etched itself in Maxwell's mind.

_Why?! _ His thought echoed throughout his mind.


	22. The Concern Kicks In

**Chapter 19 – The Concern Kicks In**

Morning. Sarah never looked good after she woke up. Hair messed up, eyes half-open, dizzy feelings swirling around in her head – it was never nice suddenly waking up to a new day. Shaking off enough tiredness, Sarah opened her bedroom door. Her eyes and mind had obviously predicted a blank, empty carpeted hall as she walked out and into it. But instead, Maxwell lay sitting on the floor. He had been sitting there all night – eyes wide apart and open – having constant repetitive loops of the dream he had last night.

"Maxwell?!" Sarah asked – confused to see Maxwell up so early, even in the position he was in. "What are you doing sitting on the floor?" Sarah's eyes opened completely. Concern and confusion had fuelled her eyelids enough to open fully.

Maxwell said nothing – merely staring at the wall as if he were in a trance.

"Bro……" Sarah moved closer. "…have you been up all night just sitting there?"

Maxwell nodded – remaining silent. His scared face and slow frozen-like nod had Sarah worried. She sat down next to him – back up against the banister and knees up, just like Maxwell. "What's up? You look sad about something, what is it?" _I hope he's not missing mum and dad so much it's scaring him._

Without tilting his head even by a fraction of a degree, Maxwell spoke. "I had a dream last night……a bad dream." His voice was sweeter than it was before – it sounded like it was balancing on some kind of vocal tightrope.

"Oh…well it was only a dream, come on." But as Sarah reached to lift herself back up to stand, Maxwell grabbed Sarah's arm – stopping her from moving.

"No…" Maxwell resumed – his voice more serious now. "…it was more than just a dream, it was a nightmare."

"Well…people have nightmares all the time. I even have nightmares – it happens all the time when you sleep."

Maxwell slowly turned his head and looked at Sarah with a confused and worried look on his face. "I dreamt that you died Sarah."

Sarah certainly wasn't expecting that. _Is he serious? _"I……I died?"

"You were shot…by someone. And then I was shot from behind by someone else…" Maxwell's eyes started sparkling as if he were about to cry. "I felt it Sarah – I felt the pain in my body. Both in my back and in my head – I really thought I was gunna die……" He closed his eyes and breathed in through his nose. "And I realised that you were gunna die too. That person was gunna shoot you again, I just knew it."

"Who? Who was it that shot me?"

There was no doubt Maxwell knew who it was. The bright green winter hat of the mysterious black-image being was never hard to recognise. He looked back at Sarah. "I don't know……I can't remember."

_Jesus, he looks really upset. Why on Earth would he dream such a thing? _Sarah placed her arm around Maxwell's right shoulder. "I'm not going to die Maxwell…"

"I won't lose you just like I lost mum and dad. They may have been shot……but at least now I know I can help protect you."

"Protect me? Maxwell, I won't die like that."

"I'm sorry…" Maxwell surprisingly responded. "I just……if I lose you, I won't have any family left."

"But……but you'll have…" Sarah realised what Maxwell meant. Her brother was really loving about his family. The fact that he would have no blood relation to anyone left was creeping into his mind and polluting it like a parasitic cloud of fear. Sarah wrapped her other arm around him. A simple friendly connection had quickly turned into a grasped, loving hug of brother and sister.They sat there for a few minutes – never letting go of one another and sharing each other's warmth.

Ten minutes later, Maxwell was sat down on the floor of the bathroom's shower cubicle as he was in the hall. The three glass walls and extra sliding door which was now closed and sealed felt like safety to him. As he sat there – naked with the hot water from the shower falling down onto his now soaked blond hair, he continued to stare at a finger-drawn image of the green hat's shape. The steam had provided a reasonable canvas for Maxwell to draw on. The only thing that was transparent and steam-free on the glass shower wall was the outline of the hat – staring straight at him as he did to the image. _Surely……surely he would never do something like that…… _The final couple of words spoken in his mind fully expressed his worrying curiosity; _……would he?_

Meanwhile, over on the other side of the estate, Kenny was in the back garden. He had been up for nearly an hour – his new-found angelic mentality had given a much needed boost of energy to wake himself up in the morning. Kenny was training by himself – ensuring he knew what he truly was now. The sun was slowly rising up out of the horizon. The orange and yellow dawn light created a beautiful silhouette of Kenny's body. The image of a blacked-out hooded young boy training himself in the crisp, clean look of the garden snow was a thing of beauty. For the moment, Kenny had only been training in physical combat and movement – no supernatural or unearthly abilities; merely the human abilities of combating foes. _Right, I think that's enough of that this morning. _Kenny lifted off his hood and loosened it so that it hung behind him – still attached to the main jacket.

_OK, let's try something more challenging._

Kenny picked up the glass of water that was sitting on a stone nearby. _Alright, I hope this works. _Kenny started swinging the cup up and down as if he were about to throw it. _1……2……3!_ Still having tight grip of the glass, he tossed it quickly up into the air. The kinetic force of the movement caused the water to fly up into the air. Within a split second, Kenny threw the cup to one side, concentrated on the body of water – which by now had transformed into a distorted shape and stretched out his open hand – emitting a strange kind of invisible wave from his hand. The waves caused impact on the water – causing the crystal clear liquid to splash back and fall apart into thousands of smaller droplets._ Woah, I did it. I can't believe I actually did it._

By what Ageliss had taught Kenny by speaking to him in his mind, Kenny had just emitted what could only be described as an ultrasonic kinesis wave. Having the frequency and powerful amplitude of sonic waves and the forceful impact of kinetic energy, Kenny had managed to create a wave of such incredible force that it could have been easily seen as as forceful as physical and materialistic contact.

_That's enough for today. I better get inside before someone sees me doing all this. _Flipping his hood back up over his head and fastening it tight, Kenny walked back into the house – passing through a half-broken hinged door and into the kitchen.

"So I see you've become accustomed to your new skills." A voice spoke.

"Oh Ageliss, you made me jump there for a second."

Ageliss laughed. "Well get used to it, I am in your head after all. Anyway, I have some important news for you."

"Sure, go ahead." Kenny responded – opening the cupboard and picking out a half-empty loaf of bread. Picking out a couple of slices and picking off the few bits of spotted mould that were on the crusts, he sat down by the table as Ageliss explained what he had to say.

"…So basically, that's what they want you to do." Ageliss ended.

"OK, they want me to go to Hell to pick up something. So what is it they want to give me?" Kenny asked – taking the first bite of his plain, un-buttered bread.

"Well, they'll tell you once you've got there, so don't worry about that for now."

_Heh, they never DO tell me anything before I go anywhere – it's like they're keeping fucking secrets from me. _"Alright cool, when though?"

"They need you in Hell on the day that marks Thursday – after you've finished school."

_Why didn't he just say Thursday? The day that marks Thursday – that sounds so stupid. _"Alright, but how do I get to Hell anyway. I can't do it by myself."

"You can now. Just concentrate on that little warm buzz you get in your body and you should transport to Hell immediately."

_What IS he on about? _"Ummmm, OK, I'll try."

"Don't worry about it Kenny, you'll be fine. You'll know what I mean when it comes to actually doing it."

_Let's hope so. _Kenny continued eating.


	23. Analysis 4

**Chapter 20 - Analysis 4**

Imagine if people still thought the World was flat. Imagine how that would have affected the confidence of hiding and spying on your targets without getting caught. Society certainly feels much more isolated and secure now that that face has been brushed aside - that the World is indeed spherical and the humans that populated this planet knew it. As these thoughts swam through Xerok's mind, he gazed through his binoculars as he stared down onto the recess playground of South Park Elementary on a cold and blustery Wednesday Morning. His evil smirk was back again. **_So far, so good - the 'scare tactics' worked to perfection._**

The morning before, Xerok had used what he classed as 'Scare Tactics' on his 'secondary target'. Although draft-based actions in description, the result was far more sinister and deadlier to the emotions than how it's described. Comprised of specifically tweeked electro frequencies and bio-matter pulses, Xerok had been able to implant 'Scare Tactics' within 'the secondary target' that he had been closely watching for some time now. The result was provened - Xerok could not only see but sense that his target was feeling much more down and worried; as if he were about to lose something...or someone. **_That kid has no idea what's next for him. _**Whatever Xerok was planning next, it sure wasn't going to be nice and cuddly, that's for sure.

His binoculars - which were deemed by himself, Grade Omega S-5X Optical Magnification Scopes - the best spy tools in the Universe, were used frequently by Xerok to spy on his targets - the blind innocence of youth who had no idea they were being watched. And how could they, Xerok must have been at least half a kilometre away from the school - standing atop a snowy cliff and feeling the spark-like brush of cold air around him. Not that it bothered him - Xerok certainly had no warmth of love, care and light in his lonely dark, cold soul of a monster. Like a black crow ready to feast on the flesh of death, Xerok stared down from the edge of the cliff. Having finished what he had intended to achieve all the way out here, he picked out his digital sphere and began inputting yet another entry log into the database.

**oPEN.New-Journal-Entry-Today,1.925.43:68N - My plan to initiate 'Scare Tactics' on 'the secondary target' appear to have worked to a full 100 percent perfection level. But then again, if I am right about my predictions into how Ageliss and Divelia have messed this up, then all I will need to do is devise three demise plans for the three main targets. If all goes according to calculated plans, then I shall be able to iradicate all major and even minor threats without breaking a sweat. But something troubles me though, I don't know what, but it feels...wrong. **

**I sense that this problem has led to a growing emotion that one of the main targets is achieving. If this problem is to further advance, then I have a minor fear of how it will affect my objectives here. I cannot fail...and if it means erasing all possible errors, whether major or minor, then I guess I have no choice - no problems is better than one problem throughout. I'll need to focus on 'removing' one of the three main targets first. I can deal with 'The Guardian' later - he still is unaware of my presence and has not yet discovered his true strengths, which can only mean one thing - I am firmly in control of how this pans out.**

**Tonight's Plan of Action: Research Area: 'South Park' - find suitable areas for tri-objective. And because of what has occured, I can use the 'problem' of this new emotion to my advantage. Tactic planning is needed, but once completed - I will not have any more problems for the time being. The first main target's time here is almost up. I guess it's just a matter of whether he's ready to say goodbye so soon. Heh heh, humans - how I pity their pathetic emotions.**

**cLOSE.Entry-SAVE.Entry(New)_RETURN TO PREVIOUS WINDOW_**

Xerok looked up at the sky and then looked at his watch. He had just enough time to begin tactic plans - all of which needed to be recorded in his digital sphere. He opened up a new program and began his work - ensuring no one and nothing was around him. **_Like it'll matter - I'll just kill anything that comes near. _**A Cold being lying on a cold cliffside - the familiarity of two objects was certainly nothing tolaugh at. Whatever Xerok had install, he was making sure it was to the most sinister and precise way that he could make it.


	24. Part I: Lonely Stan

**Chapter 21a - Lonely Stan**

A few days had passed. Stan lay on the floor of his bedroom - jacket off and completely scrunched up into a heap on the side of his bed. The angle of his head had caused his hat to slip off his head and onto the carpet. It was now acting like a wooly pillow for his long black hair. As Stan gazed up at the seemingly blank-coloured ceiling, he gazed into the past few days to recall what he had seen occur between him and his friends. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday seemed to just fly by for Stan - more strange than it usually was. Stan was always happy for time to fly quickly; especially in school-time. But this time, it was different. There was an uneasy feel lingering in Stan's focused mind.

Over the past few days, Stan had noticed that his best-friend Kyle was starting to spend less time with him as a friend. He was uneasy at the possibility that he was spending more time with Sarah and Maxwell as a result of it - something Kyle promised wouldn't happen. Stan knew better than to not trust Kyle, but in this case, it seemed different._I hope they're not intending to take Kyle away from me. _That thought had grasped onto Stan's brain like a magnet that wouldn't let go. Over the whole of the three days, Kyle had been talking to Sarah and Maxwell a lot more than he did to Stan. Though he still stuck by Stan like the loyal friend he was, Kyle seemed more interested in getting to know these two new British kids than he did spending friendly time with Stan. But it wasn't just Kyle who seemed to be building barriers in front of Stan. Kenny also had been isolating himself from his friend, Stan. For unknown reasons, Kenny would now and again disappear and not attend the usual group's activities and outings that they usually did after school. Stan couldn't explain it, but Kenny seemed to be appearing, disappearing, re-appearing and then eventually, end up not turning up at all. _What would Kenny be doing that's so important?_

More and more, Stan got the impression that he was losing his friends - he felt he was becoming more and more lonelier by the day. His thinking wasn't as straight as it usually was and his fear of worrying to a serious mark had risen dramatically. During classes at school, Stan had seen Kyle talking to the Hunter kids often - helping them with work and vice versa. Stan tried joining in, but it seemed to him that he was slipping out of the conversation as if he were on ice trying to get a footgrip on the ground. Whether he was doing it himself or Kyle was abstractly pushing him aside was still a mystery - but Stan knew where his opinion lay. The only person who Stan really had enough time and grip to talk to someone, was Cartman. But Stan knew he wasn't really classed as a friend - merely someone to hang out with.

Kyle had been going to the local synagogue with Sarah and Maxwell more often - meaning Stan was more lonely than ever; now with Kenny doing his own thing whatever that may be.

Suddenly, a pulse started beating in the dark depths of Stan's body. His eyes widened and his body shot up like he had just been inflated with air. He stood up and walked over to the nearby desk where his computer was. As he sat down on the PC chair, he turned it slightly to pick up a framed picture that was standing near the monitor. Stan picked it up and stared at it. It was a picture of himself, Kyle and Kenny enjoying a day out in the cold and fun times of Winter. At last, a smile was raised onto Stan's face. He could remember the captured moment well. The boys had spent the whole day at a nearby ski park in Colorado. Stan and Kyle had spent all day trying to learn how to ski properly - both failed at first, but eventually got the grips of it. Cartman, being the cocky idiot that he was, tried his efforts at snowboarding. Again, he failed miserably. The picture was taken at the top of one of the mountains that was based in the ski park. Stan and Kyle had their arms around each other's shoulder with Kenny popping up from behind with his jacket hood down. All three were smiling - happy that their loving friendship was still as strong as ever.

_They were good times. _Stan had such a brilliant memory of that time. It was one of the best times he had spent with his friends. There were no problems, no back-stories, no allibies and no worries - it was just four friends and their families enjoying a long weekend at a ski park.

But if only it were as good as that now. That was something Stan was indeed wishing to happen. _Sooner than later would be nice._

Still holding the picture and its frame, he opened one of the desk's drawers and attempted to place the picture in the drawer. As Stan did so, he felt the picture brush up against a familar-feeling object that he had once held to Kyle. After placing the picture in a far corner of the drawer, Stan peaked his head into the drawer. What he saw in there sent a shockwave rushing through his skin - chilling him to the bone as it did so. Stan held the object in his hand. He stared at it in disbelief. _I can't believe I actually held it. I can't believe that I was actually going to use this...on Kyle._ A dark bug-like pulse was urging its presence into Stan's mind. His visually ice-like stare pierced the object like a blade - Stan was shocked to discover he still had this object in possession...and still in secret.

_No...never again...NEVER AGAIN! _With a focused look on his face and a determined target to clean his mind of negative thought, Stan opened up the bottom of the object and placed his left hand under the now-open gap. Carefully, he slipped the 10-bullet pack into his trouser pocket and hid the gun somewhere secret - somewhere no one would ever find it...he believed.

_I may feel down...but I won't ever sink to that level...EVER. _Stan crawled into bed and wrapped the duvet and blue covers around him. With a factor of confusion, shock and even guilt in his mind, Stan slowly shut his eyes and went to sleep. It was only 5 in the afternoon, and Stan already felt tired. A nap would do him good - he needed to refresh his thinking. This was definately not the path he wanted to take...or was it?


	25. Part II: Sinister Detour

**Chapter 21b - Sinister Detour**

_Wow, I look great. _Kyle had finished getting changed. No longer was he wearing his usual orange T-Shirt, green trousers and orange polyester jacket. Instead, he had changed into a smart looking brown shirt, navy blue Jeans and black shoes. He knew not to overdo it - after all, it was only a concert performance at the indoor Denver Arena, but he still wanted to give a smart impression. He looked at his watch, _5:15pm - just under three hours to get there. _Combing the final few streams of his red hair, he carefully placed his hat back onto his head and brushed off any minor creases on his shirt. Although he'd gotten dressed and changed early, he'd decided to leave around about this time. Two bus routes and a bit of walking wouldn't bother Kyle. This performance had been in Kyle's mind like a bug - the only thing that had driven his excitement over the past few days. He felt slightly guilty that it had been the only thing he had talked about to his friends. Although Kenny had been interested in the subject, the others didn't share Kenny's enthusiasm - especially Stan.

Kyle had never seen Stan so glum. But something in the back of Kyle's mind was telling him that Stan's emotion was merely masking something else - something much more different than the one Kyle saw.

Kyle made sure he had everything. Watch - check. Money - check. 3rd Item - check. _She won't be expecting me to bring this. _As he picked up the 3rd object as it leaned up against his bedroom wall, he placed it in its bag and put it around his shoulder and across his back. _Everything good? _He nooded. Turning the light off and shutting the door, he made his way downstairs. Kyle was the only one in the house - his family had gone out for the evening; a request made by Kyle, he wanted this perfect time to himself...and Sarah too.

_Right, next stop, Denver Centre. _But just as Kyle reached for the door, the phone on the nearby hall table started to ring. Kyle turned around with a confused look. Placing the bag by the door's side, he walked over to the phone and picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Hey dude, it's me."

Kyle instantly recognised the voice and smiled. "Oh, hey Stan, what's up."

"Not much - just lying around in bed."

"In bed? You feeling OK?"

"Yeh, yeh, just a bit tired that's all."

"Oh, OK."

"Listen, dude, can you meet me somewhere tonight?"

"Ah jeez Stan, I'm just about to go out - I promised Sarah I'd go and see her perform."

"I know, I know."

Kyle seemed confused. Stan didn't sound as glum and depressed as he sounded back at school. But Kyle wasn't bothered.

"But listen, I just wanted to talk to you about something, that's all."

"Well...OK, where did you want to meet me?" Kyle listend carefully. He got quite a surprise at Stan's reply. "Really? You want to meet there? Why?"

"I just thought it would be good to talk to one another there - I've found that place to be really secretive and private anyway."

"Yeh but, wouldn't that be breaking in and stuff?"

"No of course not. I found a secret way in anyway, just listen for a moment."

Kyle listened again as Stan gave him the directions for where to meet him. "Are you sure about that?"

"Trust me Kyle."

"And are you sure I'l still have time to get to the Denver centre."

"Of course, I promise."

"Well...alright. I'll set off now. But don't keep me waiting - I need to get to this concert for when it starts."

"That's fine, see yer' later Kyle."

"Yeh, see yer' Stan." Kyle placed the phone down and took a deep breath to pause and think for a moment. _I can trust him, I know that. _There was a slight bit of doubt in Kyle's head. Nevertheless, Kyle had made a promise. _It's not far from the first bus route anyway. _Kyle picked up the bag and made his way out of the house.

Meanwhile, on the other end of the phoneline, a synthesised vocal modification device had just been turned off. Xerok placed his communication device into his jacket pocket and smiled. _**Perfect**. _It was a trap - Xerok's sinister deception had worked. A pair of binoculars hung around his neck as he stood atop a hill - a perfect place to spy on anyone of his targets...especially Stan and even worse, Kyle. Xerok turned around and began to walk down the hill. Next stop, the rendez vu point. His smile grew. **_Ah...the fireworks factory - a perfect place for anybody to die._**


	26. Part III: A City Of Demons

**Chapter 21c - A City Of Demons**

The warmth and spark-like surroundings of Hell was certainly surprising in Kenny's eyes. It was different in more than one way to the Hell he had been to in the past. He spun around a full 360 degrees to take in the amazing but slightly unexpected landscape of this dark dimension. The land was covered in jagged lumps of black rock and paths that looked like they'd been drilled into the ground. In the surrounding horizons, spiky dark mountains and preying peaks stared back at Kenny like distant statues.The sky had its own story too - a marble-like mixture of red, purple, black and white - all blended in with a static splash of the odd thunderstorm and strike of lightning here and there.

_Right then, Divelia told me to follow the dark path until I reached a cave opening. _Looking down from the cliff that he found himself on, he saw a blackish brown path stretching across the small lumpy hills and zig-zagging its way around the jagged ground and sticking out lumps of black rock.

Kenny began his journey across the land of Hell. He realised it would be quite hot here, but not this hot. Living in a town that never seemed to be warm was something Kenny had gotten used to for a long time and now he found himself somewhere that felt like the desert. Wiping the few droplets of sweat from off his forehead and onto his brown gloves, he took off his whole parka jacket and tied it in a knot around his waist. Placing his gloves in his trouser pockets, he contiued walking - feeling much more cooler but still quite warm from the temperature of this new place. On his travel, Kenny passed across some numerous unusual scenery. The highlights were a twisted corkscrew-shaped plain of rocks, trees that were growing what looked like crimson-shaded leaves and moss and even more strange, a red river. It looked too strange to simply walk past - Kenny had to stop to inspect it further. The river streamed down a little channel in-between two divides of land. The path Kenny had followed eventually went over a bridge - a bridge that spanned right across from one side of the land to the other side. Kenny walked to the riverbank and sat down by the river's side. It felt almost like a beach - the sand was black, like coal, but it still had that grainy soft feel like beach sand did. The red river sparkled with an eye-catching twinkle like a crimson-coloured diamond.

Although Kenny first thought it were blood that was flowing through this river, it was actually something of a more fruity and delicious sort. As Kenny lay on the black beach with his ow bare feet completely dunked and relaxed in the streaming flow of the river, he looked deep into the river and took a few sips of the liquid flowing in this river. Although Kenny thought it was made up of some kind of fruit that probably grew in this dimension, it was actually what th demonic beings called 'macid' - anti-lava magmatic acid; a combination of sulphuric acid, microscopic igneous minerals and heated crop particles all combined together along with the juice of Hell's fruit to form a dark red liquid compound. Anybody could have easily mistaken the liquid for blood on inspection. But as soon as the liquid touched Kenny's lips, he soon realised it was not blood at all; instead, it was something much juicier and fresher than blood.

He had stopped long enough, it was time to get moving once more. After finishing drying his feet off on the land's side and tieing his jacket back around his waist, Kenny continued his walk along the paved path. Ten minutes into his resumed journey, Kenny heard an echoed voice cryig out to him. "Kenny! KENNY!" Kenny looked up and saw a demonic being flying towards him slowly. As Divelia slowly hovered his way down to the ground, Kenny watched on.

"Where the hell...errrr...I mean heck, have you been all this time? You weren't around on Earth at all over the past few days; where were you?"

"Ah right, well I've been having to do some work here in Hell concerning some specific stuff and whatnot."

"Some specific stuff? And what might this 'stuff' be?"

"There's no need to worry about all that Kenny; it's nothing, trust me."

"OK, whatever you say."

"Right then, I was sent out here to look for you."  
"Well that's good, this fucking path seems to go on forever."

"Yep, that's what a 72,000 mile path will do to you."

_Is he joking?! _"You mean I've just walked 72,000 miles?!"

Divelia laughed. "No no no - just a few miles."

"Still, a few miles is long enough for me. So then, where is this place you and all the others want me to go to."

"Well if you follow me, I'll show you the way - we'll need to take to the sky too y'know."

"Yeh don't worry 'bout that - Ageliss told me I could do that thing now."

Kenny closed his eyes and concentrated again. His focus had changed from targetting the cool, soft flow of light in his body to the static, warm and buzzing beat of dark energy instead. It didn't take him long. The dark energy flowed through his neutrally-powered body. His dark black and purple demon-like wings appeared - unfolding themselves out to an amazing stretch and height.

"Right then, ready?"

"You bet I am, let's go."

Divelia brought out hsi wings again and the two shot off into the sky - Divelia guiding whilst Kenny followed. The distance between themselves and the black ground was now about 5000 feet, but there was still plenty of detail on the land to see. Kenny looked down and was amazed at Hell's twisted landscape. Red rivers and lakes, black forests, brown and black mountains, red canyons and the lumpy up-and-down structure of the land plains they flew across.

_This is unreal - Hell's actually like this? _"So then, where exactly are we going?" Kenny shouted forward towards Divelia.

"Nowhere special, if that was what you were thinking."

"Well if you didn't know already, anywhere we go here is special to me."

Divelia raised a smile and looked back. "Well if you must know, I'm taking you to the lower levels of the colony."

"Hell has a colony?"

"It's just another name for our city, Kenny. It's a city underground and it's got its own litle isolation from the open area too, so it's classed as a colony too."

"Well I hope it's not too isolated - I can get slightly claustrophobic from dark, encoosed spaces."

"Don't worry, it's not like that - it's just underground. Look, we're coming up to the ground opening of it, look."

Kenny followed the direction of Divelia's pointing finger and realised what he was talking about. They were coming up to a wall of mountains and highly raised areas of land. However, in the middle of the collection of mountains, a large hole was clearly visible. The hole, Kenny clearly realised, was the way into Hell's underground colony. A few minutes later, Kenny and Divelia arrived at the opening. Hovering slowly down onto the opening's black ground, they began to walk in. Kenny made his demon wings disappear and followed Divelia in. The inside of the mountain was dark - hardly any light was inside. The only light that got in had managed to sneak through the ceiling's many crack. But even sill, the light was red - making the foyer-like entrance feel like a photographic dark room.

"Divelia, don't go too far - I can hardly see anything in here. All I can see is your blurry image."

"Don't worry - I'll solve that problem out fairly soon. Just stay close and follow me."

They moved on. The entrance was nothing but a mere memory now as the two moved down a black stone corridor and eventually down a seemingly never-ending flight of spiral stairs. Candles and little particles of red light filled the gaps and hols in the corridor's walls - making it easier to see as Kenny slowly followed Divelia. A few minutes later and a few maze-like journeys through the mountain labyrinth of corridors and chambers, Kenny and Divelia arrived at what looked like a lift. However, this 'lift' certaily didn't look it. There were no wires, no command terminals, no steel door - nothing of the sort. Instead, Hell's technology was rather more...biologic. The lift looked rather more like the throat of some kind of purple-coloured long-necked monster - with the lift door as the monster's mouth and the call buttons merely consisting of three purple-coloured disc-shaped holograms of light.

_I hope I'm not getting in this._

"Right Kenny, this is the lift that'll take us down to the colony."

_Oh God, I hope he's gunna explain what this THING is. _"Ummmmm, I'm getting in this?"

"Yeh, what's the problem?"

"Well...that's not a lift - it's a mouth. Are you saying that this lift is a creature's fucking throat?"

Divelia smiled. He completely understood Kenny's feelings about this. After all, Kenny had been born and had been brought up in a World of different technology and existences. But this was Hell - a dimension based on something completely different. The land, the sky, the energy, the beings and even the technology they used...was different. But unlike Earth's technology, Hell's took a more biologic and living look - the technology comprising more of biological energy and biomatter-based materials and objects; something that seemed familar to the technology aliens and insect-like creatures would use in sci-fi movies. Divelia looked back at Kenny and placed his arm around Kenny's shoulder. "Relax Kenny - it won't bite."

_Yeh, I've heard that before. _"Well, OK, I trust you. But are you saying that everything technological here will lok, feel act and sound different."

"That's right, but don't worry, it won't bite. Infact, it'll probably look out for you and even take care of you whenever you're here."

_Oh, so you're calling your technology 'IT' now are yer'? _"Right, so I've got nothing to worry then?"

"Yep."

"OK, if you say so." Just as Kenny finished speaking, the creature's mouth opened. A few drips of saliva and slime trickled down the sides of the inside walls. Divelia calmly alked in - something Kenny wished he could too. He cramped his body in - trying desperately not to touch the fleshy, wet, sticky walls of the creature's throat.

"Alright, down we go." Divelia moved his hand through the inside holographic disc of light. The mouth closed and the small fleshy cubicle bega to move down the throat down the bottom of the creature's throat.

_And here was me thinking I knew what Hell was like. _Kenny looked around - never repelling his sight away from areas of the throat where ozzing slim ewas trickling down the side. _This...is...wierd._

They soon came to a stop - the fleshy cubicle coming to a thumping halt. Divelia raised his arm to block Kenny from moving. "Kenny, before we go on, I have to ask you to transform into your demonic form."

"What, why? I'm alright like this, right?"

"Well, no. From this point and at this level underground, the colony's air is full of a dark ant-matter-based gas. If you breathe even a particle of it in, you could go into fever shock."

"Fever shock?"

"You'll die."

_Well wouldn't that have been more easier to understand? _"Oh, I see." Kenny closed his eyes again and focused. The neutrally-radiating presence of his Earth form was quickly transformed into his demon form. Streams and lines of red, purple and black light began to flow across the surface of his skin. The light was so bright that it made his clothes light up slightly with radiating colours. As his skin started slightly purpler, his demon wings re-appeared out of the torn holes of his T-Shirt - the holes that had been made from his demon wings from before.

"Perfect, now we can enter the colony." Divelia tapped on the fleshy door of the lift. As it opened, Kenny's eyes widened at what he saw - he couldn't believe this was what the true colony of Hell was like. Divelia and Kenny walked out into the cave again - the creature's lift opening now closing again.

Kenny looked on in both shock and amazement. _So, this is what Hell's city looks like. _A smile appeared - the first in a while. "So then, where to first?"


	27. Part IV: Sarah's Secret Slipin

**Chapter 21d - Sarah's Secret Slip-in**

James slipped a peak through the side of the red curtain. There was still loads of time left until the performance began, but already, people were beginning to move into the performance hall - all waiting in anticapation for them to perform.

"Holy shit, have you seen how many are out there already? At this rate, they'll be a full fucking house watching us perform?" He turned around. The rest of the band were preparing their instruments and making any adjustments to the clothes they were wearing. They still had an hour and a bit to go before they actually began peforming, but all 5 of them wanted to make sure now that they were set. Josh looked up and smiled.

"Yeh I know - the peope who run this place told me they'd ran out of tickets and stuff. There's even gunna be people watching this from the balconies above."

"Really?!" Andy was the first to reply. "Oh my God, I'm so excited. This is gunna be so awesome - I CAN NOT wait!"

"Well yer' gunna have to, we've still got over an hour left until the performace starts."

With James seting up his decks, turntables and mixers, Andy setting his bass Guitar and Josh already finished setting up his drum-kit, Maxwell and Sarah meanwhile were sat further back behind the thick red curtain in the dimly lit darkness of the back area. Maxwell sat by a few boxes - tweaking and setting up both his Accoustic Guitar and the Rhythm Guitar he had kept back in the garage for quite a while. _Sing from the heart, play from the soul, focus from the mind. _Maxwell's words looped throughout his head - it was his way of preparing himself for something big - especially now that it was something musically related. Sarah meanwhile was practicing her skills with the Violin on the other end of the back area. She'd practiced enough with the grand paino that it had already been set up behind the curtain. As Sarah sat with the violin by her chin, she recalled the object she had secretly given to Kyle on Monday.

_Like he never even knew. _Sarah was vey clever at sneaking in object into people's possession. Even people such as Maxwell had fallen for Sarah's clever little trick. As the comforting sounds of violin strings passed her ears, Sarah flashed her memory back to the Monday of that week. The way in which she hugged and kissed Kyle - aware that she was the only one who knew what she herself was doing. As Sarah had gone to hug Kyle, she recognised the type of jacket Kyle wore. Like all polyester jackets, there was always a few inside pockets that couldn't be seen by anyone else. But Sarah knew where they were. As she wrapped and even squeezed her arms around Kyle to hug him, she quickly moved her right arm into the inside of Kyle's jacket. Without Kyle even noticing or even feeling the presence of Sarah's arm, Sarah quickly popped the object she had in her hand into an inside pocket in Kyle's jacket. With a quick flow of Sarah's arm back into a position around Kyle's shoulder and the small object now comfortably placed in Kyle's inner jacket pocket, Sarah only had to break away from the hug and walk away. Her little clever manoeuvre had worked perfectly. Kyle hadn't suspected a thing and Sarah had successfully slipped her little gift object into Kyle's possession. Now, it was only a matter of time before Kyle realised that Sarah had given him something - a certain special something.

Josh watched from a near distance from across the stage. He had been standing there watching Maxwell and Sarah practice for a few minutes now. The smile on his face had never disappeared. Not only was he proud that all of 5 of them had pulled through and had got to this stage, but each of them had been through the toughest of times and to arise from it all to where they were now in life was an amazing achievment in itself. But no one would argue about who had suffered the most concerning the death and loss of their parents. And it was Josh.

Josh had never enjoyed the surroundings of his hometwon of Stoke-on-Trent back in England. The grindgy, filthy, old-styled, cruel society that filled the old city's surroundings wasn't a pleasant thing to live with, but Josh had no choice; Josh was born a Stokeian and he felt that he was going to die exactly like a true Stokeian - miserable, grumpy and sticking the big middle finger up at life in general. But as long as he had his loving and caring mother and father by his side, there was always that glimmer of light in the dark, blurry reality of city life. His mother and father both had decently paid jobs, but it was their hobbies that Josh was really proud of. Mr. & Mrs. Hunter were both part of an Indie-style band - comprised of three Stokeians, a Liverpudlian and a Mancunian. Josh was always happy and excited to listen and even watch his mother and father perform in this band, after all, it was a perfect excuse for him to be allowed in the pubs, bars and clubs of Stoke's city area. He was proud. His parents had shown him the true sound to music - a sound he thoroughly enjoyed, and eventually, a sound of music that had him inspired to follow in his parents' footsteps. His mother and father had always tried to get Josh into enjoying rock and Indie music. So when they heard Josh wanted to start his own band, they further aided Josh in his long-life ambition to form his own band.

But all that happiness. All that love. All that positive emotion. It was all about to shatter. On a cold and blustery January evening, Josh who was 16 at the time was on his way home with his mother and father after watching them perform at one of Stoke's biggest night bars. On their way down a lonely, darkened road, two black cars suddenly appeared. One slowing down in front and the other speeding up behind them. _Stupid drunks. _Josh's dad immediately said. Such a thing could have been obviosuly seen as a drunk driver - the city was flooded with idiots like that. But without warning, the two cars stopped - trapping the family car in-between and pressed against a side wall on a nearby path. The passengers of both cars quickly got out. What was to follow would completely turn Josh's night AND life upside down on its head. They demanded all the possessions in the car. That or being shot with the guns they carried, that was what was given to the family. Mr. and Mrs. Hunter didn't refuse. They handed over what little money and possessions they had on them.

But like all parasitic evil, the corruption in the robbing gang's mind had took over too much. Guns were fired - five shots in total. One at Josh's lower leg and two each at his parents. The black cars disappeared. An abandoned red car was left - three people now lying on the road all in serious condition. Emergency rescue, hospital sirens, rushing to save all three - Josh's current life flashed before his eyes as all this was happening. It was 7 hours and exactly 37 minutes later when Josh was seen as a saved individual. But unfortunately, the same couldn't be said for his mother and father.

_I'm sorry Josh, we tried our best. But unfortunately, we weren't able to save your parents. Sorry. _The doctor certainly didn't make him feel any better. Josh would have preferred being dead than spending life without his parents. The pain made him cry for weeks - the tears covering his face like raindrops. But it wasn't over. Josh had one last serving of pain only 4 months later - seeing in person the faces of the very people who shot and in result, killed his parents and left him for dead. And in the very courtroom of Stoke Magistrates, Josh saw them. All six killers were illegal immigrants from Pakistan. Killings by asian immigrants had become almost an every day thing in Britain, but Josh had never suspected that such a sick and sinful act would be commited on himself and indeed his own parents.

_YOU SCUM! YOU SICK FUCKING SCUM! I HOPE YOU ALL BURN AND ROT IN HELL FOR WHAT YOU'VE DONE! _Josh yelled across the courtroom as he angrily stared all six killers in the face; his words seemingly having no affect on their icy, cold, heartless souls of such monstrosity. Josh was so angry that it looked as if he was about to jump over the sitting area and kill all six of them with his bare hands. Only a pair of security guards and a few other members of his family blocked and stopped him from getting his deserved revenge.

_LIFE! _The judge decided _All of you will serve a minimum of a life sentence. Not only have you taken away the lives of two innocent adults, but you have also taken away every bit of happiness that this young lad had and would have had with his loving parents. And for that, you will suffer the same pain in prison as Josh Hunter will now have to face for the rest of his life. _The six killers looked as if they didn't care - they knew that the poorly constructed British Government would allow them parole in a mere 20 years time. In this country, _a life sentence _never did mean _life_ - even for the sickest, twisted and most evil of individuals.

As Josh left the courtroom - now knowing his killers had got what they deserved, he looked at the photo of himself and his parents that he had in his hand and gripped it with all the power he could find in his right hand. He looked straight on with a desired look on his face. _I won't give up. I'll find a new band - a band who share the same experiences as me and together, we'll fulfill the wish you wanted me to fulfill for all that time, I SWEAR IT! _Josh walked off - knowing now that his country-cross search for a band had just began. But what he hadn't realised, was by the end of the year, he would finally be united with 4 of the most loving individuals who like him, shared a past pain of loss. It would soon exist - 'The Hunters' would soon exist and they would begin their musical journey across wherever fate may take them.

Josh's focus returned to the present. He picked out the photo of him and his parents. He always carried it around with him - it was a simple rememberance of eternal love his family shared. As he looked down at it, a tear dripped onto the creased photo. Josh wiped it off and wiped away the shining remains of tears in his eyes. _Wherever you are, I know you're looking down at me. I did it mum, I did it dad - I hope you're proud of me._

"Alright guys, less than 90 minutes now. Let's get to work on our order of tunes and tracks." Josh shouted to the other four. Josh knew; this concert performance was more than just a way of showing that he could perform to a huge crowd, but it was a way to show himself that he had gone through the roughest of times and had brought himself up into a new and happier life - a life that he now wanted to share with his new family of Hunters for the rest of time.


	28. The New Device

**Chapter 22 - The New Device**

As Kenny walked across the black ground of the colony cave, Divelia guided him through the maze of corridors and paths that glided, guided and zig-zagged across the stone and strangely materialistic structures of the colony. Like the structures of Heaven, the buildings took on an array of dark polygonic shapes of different sorts, sizes and forms. However this time, there was an even bigger presence of un-natural life in this dimension. Apart from the race of demonic energy-based beings that lived in this underground part of Hell, the dark dimension was thriving with strange alien-like insectoids and creatures of a mysterious, strange and even scary structure. Kenny certainly had a lot to look at as he passed through the many paths and corridors of the colony to where he needed to be. There was never a moment where Kenny's eyes weren't attracted by the look of a creature or insect-like being somewhere on the journey. _And I thought the animals on Earth were scary. _After all, no other human would have expected that there existed such creatures that they would only see in such million-dollar budget American sci-fi movies.

After half an hour of travelling through the inner depths of the busy, towering New York-like colony, Kenny finally arrived at where Divelia wanted to take him to - the central adminastration quarters in Hell's colony city. The building resembled the shape of Britain's MI6 SIS headquarters. The structure was rectangular with some areas sticking out - located right next to the only flowing river of macid in the underground caverns and was purple and black in colour.

"Alright, Kenny, I'll take you to the central meeting room. Follow me."

_Meeting room? Hell has a meetng room? _Surprising as it may seemed, the buildings of Hell were very similar in reason and purpose to all buildings that had existed up to this day back on Planet Earth. Inside the structure, demonic beings dressed in smart but devillish clothing got on with their crucial jobs as Kenny and Divelia passed by. As Kenny exitted the foyer and into the main spherical lobby of the ground level, he gazed across at a stone-carved emblem that was the official symbol of this structural building. The symbol beared a purple and red static image of a strike of lightning - srrounded by a ring shield and a background of sparks and misty gas. The emblem read:

_**CADACC - Hell - Central Angellic Demonic Adminastrative Communications Centre**_

Kenny quickly realised - this building boldly and cetainly expressed the same powers as all the other super-powers of America that he knew of. But this time, it seemed the main power of Hell's society was much more sronger and powerful than anything America or even Earth could produce. FBI, CIA, NSA, SIS, NRO, MI5, MI6, NASA - the whole alphabet of Government agencies and super-power affiliates seemed to be nothing more than mere insects of power compared to this demonic God-like force of super-power. CADACC was a supreme force of Governmental, justice and adminastrative power. The combination of all major control of both Heaven's and Hell's society was based in two single, giant buildings and appared to combine the true strengths of Earth's similar agencies - only that CADACC had its own way of expressing its communicative, technological and strategy-based existence. The technology of both Heaven and Hell far surpassed the current levels of technology back on Earth. It didn't take Kenny long to come up with examples to make comparisons as he passed through the main ground room. Earth had advanced energy tracking and scanning equipment - but Heaven and Hell had far more advanced equipment that was able to scan, detect, analyse, execute and even perform commands and actions with object and mass that humans would only dream about using or even think up. Even in the social and recreational side to the two dimensions' existence, technology was much more advanced. The youth of Earth had their hard-disk based PCs and memory-usebale portable players for audio, video and pictures. But both Heaven and Hell had their own designs - basing memory and functionality on more advanced materials than metal and plastic. Instead, the existences of multi-purpose light energy and neon-looking energy allowed the purposes of storage whereas mineral-filled materials allowed the purpose of design, safety and reassurance.

_It's a shame people are afraid to go to Hell. If everyone knew Hell was like this, everyone would be on the first possible flight up, up and back down to Hell again. _

The two came up to a now tighter corridor. The building's corridors were completely made up of cool, reflective metal. It felt like they were walking through an enormously-stretched super safe - the clicking and clanking of Kenny's shoes creating echoes of sound as he walked across the shiny mettallic floor. Every room of this enormous building was filled with impressive technology. Transparent liquid-crystal monitors, stream-line kinetic data buses, virtual touch-screen terminals, fibre-optic & electro-magnetic communication devices, holographic security cameras, sentry-enabled hovering mechanoids - the list of advanced technologies in this building was unbelievable and unpredictable to say the least. Kenny was impressed. He had never been around technology much back on Earth to adapt a life with it, but seeing all the amazing advances in digital applications of modern life (whether naturally on Earth or here - semi-naturally in Hell) had fuelled his desire for electronic and technological items and appliances even more.

"Alright, Kenny - this is as far as I can go."

"Wait, where do I go now?"

"Just keep following this corridor. The guard at the end of the corridor will tell you the rest."

"Wait, what if I..." But it was too late. Unexpectably, Divelia vanished without a trace. Confused but still determined to move on, Kenny continued walking through the thin metal corridor. He finally came up to a thickly-plated metallic electronic door with a guard with what looked like a double-bladed staff gripped in his hand standing just in front of it.

"Kenny McCormick?!" The Guard asked - demanding an answer immediately.

"Ummmmm, yep, that's me."

"Take this, young child." The guard handed him what looked like a cotten bud. "Place it in your mouth under your tounge and keep it there for exactly five seconds."

Kenny looked at it in confusion. "Errrr, what for? Am I ill or sumin?"

The guard smiled - surprisingly showing a non-serious side to his seemingly brute and gigantic character. "No of course not. That device simply needs to read your genetic DNA structure."

"By being put under my tounge?"

"Correct. The saliva in your mouth provides more than enough for a DNA sample - just like your blood."

_Saliva can be used to check DNA? Now that's sumin new. _"Alright, whatever you say." Kenny placed the cotton bud-like object in his mouth and counted for five seconds in his head. _One...two...three...four...FIVE. _Kenny took the bud back out. Both white ends of the object had turned from white to red. _Woah, it worked. _Kenny was impressed. _Either that, or my saliva's red. _Raising a smile at his own joke, he passed the bud to the guard who inserted it into a pen-size hole in the wall next to the metal door. The light beside the hole turned from red to green and a RAST device appeared. RAST stood for Retinal Analysis Scanner Terminal and used much more advanced protocols and analysis peripherals to study the make-up of one's eye.

"OK Kenny, if you can just look closely into this eye scanner - it'll read your eye's information and you'll be clear to proceed."

Kenny crouched slightly and moved his left eye up to the red spherical scanner on the terminal. Closing his right eye in doing so, he focused his sharp stare on the red scanner. Two tiny arms came out of the terminal and stretched Kenny's eyelid out so that the red beam from the sphere could scan and analyse all of Kenny's eye. After a minute of scanning and Kenny having to bear the brightness of a red beam in his left eye, the terminal moved back and clicked with a spark-like ping. On the terminal's message stream, Kenny's identification had been confirmed:

_**Retinal Scan Complete. Identification: Kenny McCormick. Genetic Demonic DNA Found - Access Granted**_

The door started to slide open - moving apart as it did so. The guard moved to the left side to let Kenny pass. Kenny began walking through. The now opened door gave way to a pitch black corridor. And yet, Kenny could still see everything clearly and precisely. Kenny couldn't explain it - but his vision had turned from his normal human spectrum of the surroundings to a mix of red, white and black. It was as if Kenny had night-vision AND infra-red sight somehow etched into his own two eyes. _Ah, I realise now. _It didn't take him long to realise. The DNA that the demonic beings had was now flowing through his body. Their ability to see in complete darkness was now an ability Kenny had been given through his new genetic make-up.

The dark crimsons and tones of black soon disappeared and were now filled with bright shades of red and white. Kenny somehow managed to switch his vision back to normal view. He entered what looked like a meeting room - a table positioned exactly in the middle of the room with black metal chairs specifically positioned at exact angles and distances from each other around the egg-shaped table. Half of the room was in shadow with little white lights giving the only available light in the room. The thick metal door closed behind Kenny - much to Kenny's shock.

"Ah, you must be the young child Divelia mentioned." A voice from the dark shadow began.

Kenny turned back around to the direction of where the voice emerged from. "I sure am. And who might you be?"

"Me? Well...let's just say I'm the 'boss' of this large adminastrative structure." The being turned his rotating chair around and emerged out of the shadow. "My name is Tenrix Khelledrin - but you can just call me Tenrix." Kenny looked up in respectable amazement. The being was dressed in the smartest demonic clothing he had seen so far - almost like a suit in a way. Tenrix's eyes glowed with a hot, fiery gaze of red. His face was brute and as a strong as the very strength he possessed in the high ranks of Governmental power. He was about two and half times Kenny's height and looked in his mid-twenties - when in fact he was far older than that; old enough to surpass the barrier of human health four-fold. "Please, take a seat young Kenny - there is plenty to discuss." The powerful arm of Tenrix guided Kenny to his seat - exactly opposite his own large, egg-shaped seat. "Say Kenny, are you hungry at all?"

_I'm so fucking glad he asked that. _"I sure am - I haven't eaten anything since last n...I mean Wednesday night."

"Well don't worry about it. I've had the fine catering here at CADACC prepare a banquet for your arrival." Tenrix clicked his fingers - his click sounding more like a static spark. Out of the back shadows, half a dozen beings came walking in with huge plates of unearthly food, drink and desserts for Kenny to tuck into. Of course, nothing was Earth-based, but considering how hungry Kenny was, he would try anything to satisfy his enormous demand for food and drink. As a plate was placed in front of Kenny on the table, Kenny started carefully pouring, placing, picking up and scooping the food and drink from their trays and onto his largely-sized plate. It may not have been Earth-based, but Kenny had a firm idea of what kind of food and drink it was. Remains of insect-like creatures and animals that had been cooked to provide delicious meat and protein-based substances, large objects that bared the characteristics of fruit and vegetables, rock and mineral-based mass that looked like bread, biscuits, cookies and carbohydrate-based products, liquids that bared the fizzy and sparkly resemblance of fizzy carbonated drinks that seemed to have the odd twist of bitter alcohol-like taste and lastly, cold and sweet-based desserts of such delicious proprtion. Kenny began eating - remembering all table and eating manners he knew already in order to keep respect present.

"Now then, as you know Kenny - the evil being Xerok has already found his way to Earth."

"Ah, yeh, him. Yeh I've ben sensing little sparks of cold energy coming from different areas."

"Little sparks?" Tenrix pushed Kenny for an answer. He wasn't surprised - he merely wanted Kenny to explain further even though he fully knew the situation he and Kenny were in.

"Yeh, like sudden buzzes and twitches in my mind and in my body wherever I go. I can't seem to work out where exactly they come from, but I know that it's him and he's somewhere around the area."

"Yes, Xerok has been hiding in several places around your hometwon of South Park."

Kenny choked slightly on his piece of meat-like food. "He's been hiding? I would have thought he would come after me if he knows who I am and where I am."

"Well it seems he's up to something - we don't know exactly, but we should be able to figure it out soon enough." _If only we could tell him we already know what Xerok is planning._

"So, why did you bring me here then?"

"Well..." Tenrix began - standing up and beginning to walk across the dark shadowy metallic flooring. "...over the past few days, a highly ranked team of scientists, technologists and energiologists have been working on a new device that will enable you to detect specific energy waves and spirit signals within a given radius. It'll enable you to spot, detect and chase down Xerok more specifically."

"Chase him down? Heh, I don't think I'm quite ready for fighting already - I still have some training to finish off."

"Perhaps - but perhaps Xerok knows of this. What if he were to hunt down your friends so that he could..." Suddenly Tenrix realised. _NO, you idiot - don't mention that to Kenny. He can't know the real reason behind that._

"So that he could what?" Kenny asked - finishing another portion of food on his plate and filling it up with more.

"Oh ummmm sorry 'bout that; I lost my focus of my concentration. Ah, that's it, I know what I was going to say. What I meant to say, was that what if Xerok was to hunt down your friends or even anybdy else and threaten them. Xerok has no mercy towards anybody or anything and his heart is as cold as ice."

"Well, I'll just have to stop him won't I."

Tenrix knew Kenny wasn't takeing this as serious as he wanted him to. "Kenny, Xerok is like nothing you've ever seen before. He could destroy your World with a single flick of his finger - yet he still decides to keep it intact."

"I'm not saying I'm not going to do anything. It's just, well, I have no dea how to deal with him. Plus, because I can't even sense where he is, I can't even stop him from doing anything bad that he intendes to do."

"Which is why you were called here."

"Huh?"

Tenrix moved over to a blackened out stand on the far end of the room. A single light was activated - illuminating the stand. Kenny looked on and saw something that was placed inisde a sphere stand that was on top. Tenrix picked up a small perfectly spherical ball of black metal and walked back over. "I called you here because I wanted to give this to you." He handed Kenny the sphere. Kenny looked at it in confusion. The sphere was comprised of some kind of rare black metal with a little circular button on its top side.

"What the heck's this?"

"It's what will help you track down Xerok and aybody else who you need to focus on. It's called a SEDET - Spherical Environmental Dimensionized Energy Tracker."

"And, this will help me in what way?!"

"It has the ability to sense, detect and analyse the co-ordinated positioning of spiritual and life signals of any beings within a required radius."

"So, how do I work it? It doesn't have any buttons or stuff. All it has is this little button at the top."

"Well, I guess it's time to reveal another secret ability you've got now."

"What?!"

"This device is worked using your fingers."

"My fingers?"

"Exactly, all you have to do is twitch, turn, angle and move your fingers to control the overall functioning of the device. Just think it in your mind, control it with your fingers and the commands in your brain will transfer to the SEDET device."

_Is he for real?! _"You mean I control this thing with my mind?!"

"Strictly speaking, YES."

_Hell's technology is wierd. _"OK, So how do I turn it on. Is it just this little button at the top?"

Kenny pressed the circular button before Tenrix could respond. The metallic sphere began to hover above Kenny's left hand - glowing with red light with a 3-D rendered spherical screen holographically produced from the sphere. _Holy shit - this is some pretty freaky technology. _"So all I do is do stuff with my fingers and think the commands in my mind?"

"Exactly - it's as simple as that."

"OK, I'll give it a try."

Kenny tried doing something basic to start off - _OPEN UP SENSOR'S VISUAL DISPLAY. _Kenny moved his fingers and angled them as if he were holding a computer mouse to open up a new applicatons. Within a few seconds, the visual display screen popped up. Kenny jumped with surprising shock. The screen turned black with different coloured beams and dots positioned across it. The display was similar to the screens of data that organisations such as NASA used for monitoring satellites and space shuttles. The dots were colour coded - divided up based on age, gender and location length of life-forms within the targetted dimension. It was currently set to Hell's dimension - emitting a standard 2 mile radius sensor. _Alright, how do I turn this to sense stuff on Earth. _After a few minutes browsing through the device's protocols and endless list of functions and applications, Kenny finally managed to figure out how to change the sensor settings - along with being abale to control his thoughts in order to work the device.

The SEDET's sensor settings quickly changed. The coloured dots and lines disappeared for a few seconda and then re-appeared - now shaped and positioned differently. The sensor radius was set to 2.4 miles now. Kenny adjusted the sensor to detect only dark anti-matter based beings - the same matter structure as Xerok. A bright red dot along with spirit and biomass level readings was displayed. The dot was slowly moving across a given distance. However, something caught Kenny's eye. Another red dot had appeared moving towards the same area as the first red dot - not as bright, smaller and containing different level readings as the other red dot. _Heh, that's starnge, I wonder who that is. Whoever it is, he or she's gunna get a nasty shock seeing Xerok around that area. _Kenny began to read further into the analysis of this reading. Not only was SEDET able to detect who or what beings were based in a given area in a specific dimension, but it was also able to analyse the readings to determine who exactly it was. What Kenny didn't realise, was that every being of life had its own unique level of biomass, spirit energy and expression readings. Depending on what type of being it was, the readings were either positive or negative. Positive for matter/anti-matter based beings and negative for dark/dark anti-matter based beings.

SEDET had finished its thorough conclusion of analysis. The classification names popped up. Kenny already knew Xerok was the brightest red dot on the display, but the name of the second dot shocked him to an exteme length. _No...NO, it can't be. _The name flashed up onto the hologaphic display - horrifying him. The name sent a freezing arctic chill down Kenny's back.

_**KYLE BROFLOVSKI**_

After sitting for a few seconds in frozen silence, Kenny leaped up from his chair and rushed out of the room. The steel door he had come through was still locked, but another door on the other side was open. Kenny needed to hurry, so this was the only option to exit.

"Kenny, where are you going?!" Tenrix shouted to Kenny.

"I have to stop Xerok, NOW!" Kenny yelled back - disapparing into the shadows as he ran down the secondary corridor.

Tenrix already knew the situation. Finally, Tenrix had got the message across to Kenny that Xerok was certainly a being who shouldn't be underestimated. _I hope he's able to save his friend - I guess this'll be the moment where we finally learn if Kenny is strong enough to withstand Xerok's power._

The loud clicks and clanks of the metallic corridor echoed and quickly faded away as Kenny sprinted down the corridor in an effort to get back to Earth. _I have to get to Kyle, QUICK. His life's in fucking danger; I have to save him before Xerok kills him! _With a determined look all across his focused face, Kenny disappeared from the dimensional relam of Hell. He was well on his way to returning back to Earth. Next stop, The South Park Fireworks Factory.


	29. Living Nightmares In The Factory

**Chapter 23 - Living Nightmares In The Factory**

South Park Fireworks or SPF Ltd. had its main production factory warehouse located atop of an isolated hill surrounded by forest trees and woodland. The dirtroad that acted as the factory's entrance road was a junction-based path off the main South Park highway that led through the main area of the town. The factory itself wasn't too far away from the town's local bus station - something Kyle was certainly thankful for. _Meet Stan, hear what he wants to say and quickly make your way to the bus station. _Kyle's mental command had looped through his head ever since he left home. The very thing he wanted to ensure was that he did this and managed to get to Denver and watch Sarah perform in time.

The dirtroad itself was going up on a slight slope. To the sides were sloped hills where parts of the surrounding forest were based. It seemed at times that Kyle was walking upwards in the middle of a valley - even if the scale of the area in comparison to a valley was ridiculous. The sky was a mirky shade of navy blue and black. The odd stars that were visible twinkled in the empty sky. The forests to the sides on the hills were mostly in shadow; only the first outer row of trees could be seen from the road. _This place gives me the fucking creeps. _Kyle certainly wasn't getting any friendly warmth from this lonely, isolated area of the upper hills. As Kyle got futher away from the road's beginning off the main road, he began to see an ever-increasing black building - shadowed in darkness. _I wonder why I never heard about this place before - must be somewhere no one usually goes to. _Kyle's theory seemed possible. Only the workers could have known fully about the functioning and specific whereabouts of this factory. Anyone else would have seen it as just another industrial and manufacturing structure.

The air around the slope started to become colder - more of a spooky spark of cold than an icy Arctic-like chill that Kyle was more used to in South Park. Kyle fastened up the zip on his smartcasual jacket that he was wearing. Lifting up the bag he was carrying on his back, back up to the tip point of his shoulder, he looked to the sides - an uneasy feeling started to crawl its way into the young Jew's mind. Although his green hat was protecting his red hair from the cold, Kyle felt the chills almost fading through the materialistic propertis of his hat and rushing through every curl and bushy strand of his tall red hair. He pressed his hat down; wanting to ensure his hat WAS on ALL his head.

Suddenly, Kyle heard a quick echo of twigs breaking. He stopped - looking up the right slope from where the noise had originated from. He saw nothing. The army-like row of deciduous trees acted like a barrier between the open factory road and the deep depths of the woodland forests. Kye could see nothing. He continued onward. But it was only a few seconds later that he heard the noise again. This time, Kyle braced himself slightly. He felt ridiculous thinking something was watching him or that something was going to just jump out and attack him. It WAS South Park after all - who or what would want to play games with a random human individual such as Kyle Broflovski. But Kyle realised - IT WAS SOUTH PARK - anybody who knew the area well enough would know that in this town, even the unexpected could be expected. _I better start moving a bit quicker. This place is definately giving me the creeps now. _Kyle's comfortably calm pace was replaced by a quick march up the slopey hill. All he wanted now was to get to the building, find Stan and get the hell out of there. _Look at it this way, at least you'll be watching Sarah perform after this. _The reassurance of a positive reward put a well deserved smile back on Kyle's face.

Unfortunately, Kyle's quick denial that someone or something was watching him in the shadows of the nearby side forests was a blind decision. As to Kyle's left - the opposite side to where Kyle head the echoing twig breaks was Xerok. Xerok found hiding in the shadows a pleasure. **_The Shield for the Hunter - The Barrier for the Hunted. _**And it was true - shadows were certainly a deceptive curtain for anyone to use to their advantage. But in this case, a darkening shadow of huddled trees and endless rows of forests had provided more than enough of a blanket of protection against the sight of Kyle Broflovski. But what was more clever was Xerok's sinister plan to ensure an uneasy feel in Kyle's mind. Before Kyle's arrival, Xerok had placed three devices in specific places in the right forest. The recordings were of snapping twigs and footsteps in the shadowy snow. Having investigated adrenaline and specific negative results from fearful emotions in human beings, Xerok had cleverly activated two of the three recordings wirelessly once Kyle had walked exactly between the points of the recorded device and Xerok's position. Of course, Xerok was placed in one position the whole time to avoid being detected by footstep sounds. Using three seperate devices on a remote control, Xerok could easily activate the recordings once Kyle was in position. For all three, Xerok had placed the devices in specific places that Kyle would always be in the middle of each device and Xerok himself. And believing in himself, Xerok knew that once the third device was activated, Kyle's emotions would run rapid - resulting in an increased heart rate, pulse rate and an ever increasing mind of negative vibes and feelings of the current surrounding. **_Ah, I love human emotions. So complex, yet so fun to mess with._**

Kyle could see the entrance to the fireworks factory now. He found it strange though that there were no security gates, no security personnel, no nothing - just what looked like an abandoned factory positioned right in the middle of a bowl-shaped circle of land; surrounded by slopes where forests surrounded atop. But then, Kyle heard it - a third sound of twigs breaking and even worse, footsteps as if someone was watching him and spying on him. _Jesus Christ, someone's watching me, I can hear it. _Without a single doubt in his mind, Kyle began jogging up the remainder of the hill - slight fear in his mind fuelling an urge to look back to see if anyone was following him, or even worse, chasing him. The emotions fowing through Kyle's head were certainly of an afraid nature. _Noting's going to happen to me, nothing's going to happen to me. NOTHING IS FUCKING GOING TO HAPPEN TO ME! _If only Kyle could one hundred percent trust his inner optimism.

Xerok looked onward - an evil smirk showing across his face. His scare tactics had worked perfectly. With Kyle's position growing in distance, Xerok was more than given the chance to progress towards the factory for the second phase in tonight's plan. As he rushed through the forest like a secretive assassin homing in on his target, Xerok could see his vision of his next digital log input physically becoming a reality as the seconds went on:

_**Mission StatusNew.Entry - TargetNum 2 SUBJECT: KYLE BROFLOVSKI - DEAD**_

Kyle walked up to the large, black steel doors of the factory's entrance. They were stuck - not locked but rather more frozen in place for some odd reason. Kyle had realised; obviously there was no one here and Stan wanted to meet somewhere private where there wouldn't be anyone else. But the least Kyle expected was that the main doors were open.

Xerok watched from a safe distance - hiding behind a group of trees next to the slope's beginning. Xerok picked out a small object from his jean trouser pocket. The object looked similar to a grenade - only it was black and had a few flashing lights on it; obviously declaring this was much more advanced than just a grenade. **_Ah, Splowdrer Grenade - quick, clean, silent and deceptive. _**Xerok knew all about these high-tech explosives. After all, he was the one who created them. Splowdrer bombs came equipped with two possible outcomes - neutronic silent explosion or flash-bang blinders. The flash-bang option was very much smilar to flash grenades in that it caused a quick flash of blinding light - causing the victim to be temporaiily binded; allowing the thrower to gain an advantage in moving. The second, the Neutronic option was a much more powerful and successful option. Using neutrons of powerful callibur and small pockets of ionized hydrogen gas, the grenade would be bale to create a small bang or explosion - not so much as a standard grenade but enough to cause a distraction and maybe even destroy pieces of objects or debris. The explosion itself was less of a deadly nature, but more of a shocking outcome - blasting its target away and causing bodily disorrientation and slight paralyzation of movement and sight for a short period of time. But Xerok wasn't targetting Kyle - he was targetting a small collection of debris that had built up on a side part of the factory. The debris was blocking and cloging up a small hole on the outside wall - a hole big enough for Kyle to enter since the doors didn't seem to want to budge. Confident that it would work, Xerok pressed down on a button on the grenade, tossed it hard towards the pile of debris blocking the hole and quickly hid back behind the tree he was leaning on. The Splowdrer Grenade emitted a lightning-like sphere of static energey - blasting away the debris into different directions and showing a blackened hole going into the depths of the factory.

_What the hell?! _Kyle's face turned to confusion rather than shock at the sight and sound of the neutronic blast. As he walked across to the opening, he peaked inside. All he could see was dimness - a mixture of black shadows and over-head lightbulbs. _Well, I've got no other choice. _Xerok watched on - hoping Kyle would take the bait and go in. His smile appeared as he saw Kyle move his way through the shadowy hole and into the factory. **_Perfect, I guess all that leaves to do is..._** Out from an inner pocket in his jacket, Xerok picked out a hat and placed it over his black hair. The hat, Xerok knew, would

definately be familar to Kyle. As it covered all of Xerok's black hair, it was clear to see its main colour features; red and blue in colour and more importantly, a red poofball on the top of the hat. Xerok had a perfectly identical wolly hat that Stan had. The deception was nearly complete. All Xerok had to do was now was complete it. He moved his way around another side of the building - through another hole in the factory's wall and into a room that he knew Kyle was making his way towards. **_Yes, the shadows certainly do hide my identity. _**Xerok looked around. As he could see in complete darkness and pitch black because of his un-natural vision, Xerok could see his reflection in a piece of glass that hung on the side of a wall which was pat of one of the factory's run-down dirty storage chambers. With this deceptive hat, it was certainy easy to mistake Xerok for Stan. Xerok stood at the back of room, hiding in shadows, wating for Kyle to enter the room. **_That's it fool, keep walking. Keep walking to your death!_**

The inside of the factory was glum and miserably dim. Drips of water and other fluids splashed onto the cold, metallic surface. Kyle passed by hundreds of boxes of fireworks and other celebratory explosives. Rockets, candles, catherine wheels, shot boxes, sparklers - Kyle was in a firework Heaven here. But in this case, it felt more like a sinister Hell. The inside was fairly dark - only a few hanging lights gave Kyle a good enough path to a dimly lit room at the back. The staircases and metal frames had ben destroyed and had collapsed - there was no where else to go except forward into this room at the back of the factory. Finally, after several steps of careful movement through the blackness of the factory interior, Kyke made his way into the room. As be slid the intact door across to go in he moved around the few boxes in the room and sawa figure standing at the far corner - next to another hole in the wall which also led back outside. The metal floor was wet - as if there were water everywhere. But it wasn't a problem - only about an inch of liquid on the floor.

**"Hi Kyle, glad you could make it." **The deceptive voice began.

"Oh hey Stan - this is a pretty wierd and at times, spooky lace to have a talk." Kyle couldn't see Stan's face or even his body. All he saw was the familar-looking hat; the only piece of clothing that was given light from both the hanging light and the outside rays. "So, what is it that you want to talk about? It's just that I have to be at this performance soon and whatnot."

**"Yeh, yer' see, I wanted to say some things about that. I have something to tell you."**

"Tell me? About going to see Sarah perform? Why?"

Xerok's hidden smile was raised. Tightening his grip on a match he had in his right hand, he brushed it quickly against the gritty surface of the rusted metal wall and raised the flame up. Kyle looked slightly worried.

"Errrrr, Stan, what are you doing."

**"Nothing...except stopping you." **But before Kye could give a confused reply, Xerok elivered the finishing blow in his changed, deceptive voice. **"Stopping you from living. TIME TO DIE, KYLE BROFLOVSKI." **Xerok's grip on the match was released. The match spun a few times. Kyle's shocked gaze was focused completely on the falling match. As soon as it landed hard on the meta floor, a roaring flame rose up and began to grow around in the room. It didn't take long for Kyle to realise what was fuelling the ever-growing flame - the liquid on the floor, it wasn't water...it was petrol!

Xerok blasted a small bit of energy towards the area of the ceiling above the door Kyle had used to enter the room. The blast caused debris to come crashing down - blocking the door and blocking one of Kyle's exits out of this burning and raging room. Kyle's focus soon turned to Xerok (still in the deceptive voice and look of Stan) who made his way through the hole in the wall and back outside. Kyle tried to follow but Xerok blocked his path and aimed his hand toward Kyle.

**"Sorry FRIEND, but this is where you die - whether you like it or not. Goodbye Broflovski - it's been fun knowing you." **Xerok angled his arm up slightly and sent a blast of energy up at the ceiling of the hole. The blast caused more debris to fall down. Kyle tried to rush out in time...but it was too late. The debris was too much - sealing up every gap and pocket in the hole. Xerok walked away in clear delight. Kyle was trapped and it was only a mater of time before Kyle Broflovski...was dead.

"NOOOO...HEEEEEEELP!!!" Kyle screamed at the top of his lungs - hoping someone (if anyone) would hear him and rescue him. But there was no one - the factory was lonely. Kyle started to cough and block his eyes with his jacket as the fire and smoke in the room began to grow to an enormous size. _There has to be another way out of here. I have to get rid of that debris. _Kyle rushed over to the now blocked hole and began moving tiny chunks of debris and rubble in an effort to escape in time.

But Xerok had other ideas. His left hand in his left jacket pocket and leaning on the side of the broken iron gates, he looked at the remote control he had in his right times. **"Time for the fireworks factory to go off with a bang." **He pressed the main red button on the remote. Unknown to Kyle, Xerok had planted small hydrogen bombs everywhere in the factory prior to his arrival. The red button had initiated a countdown on every individual bomb that had been placed in multiple ares in the factory. But these bombs weren't just placed in random areas. Next to and even inside boxes of fireworks, powder bags and fuel barrels was certainly not random. The red numbers on each bomb started to tick down.

**COUNTDOWN: 3M - 00S**

Kyle had three minutes - three minutes to escape or three minutes left of his life.

Half a mile away in an empty snow-covered area of grass, Kenny re-appeared back on the land of Planet Earth; rushing out of a sphere of red, orange and black light. "Right, Kyle, where are you?!" His normal vision from the ground was certainly no help. A few seconds later, his demonic form had been replaced by his transformed angellic form. Rushing up into the sky like a rocket, Kenny spun around and used his new senses to hopefully find Kyle - his white angel wings flapping wildly to maintain a level position in mid-air. Suddenly, Kenny saw a cloud of black smoke forming over a building. Looking at his SEDET device and back again at the smoke-surrounded building on the horizon, his face turned to shock, but determination. "Don't worry Kyle, I'M COMING!"


	30. Rescue Kyle

**Chapter 24 - Rescue Kyle**

As Kenny soared across the open sky, there was one justified thing on his mind. _Save Kyle - I HAVE to save Kyle! _His wings flapping as hard as they could were needed more than ever. Kenny knew Kyle had only a little amount of time left in there so Kenny had to hurry...and fast.

Kyle's vision was bright with the flames blinding him slightly. The rest of the room was a darkened blur. As smoke clouded his eyes and caused him to cough continuously, Kyle started to lose faith in the idea that he was going to escape. The debris was now in larger chunks - chunks that Kyle could not move even a fraction of an inch. The door's entrance was blocked by even chunks of debris - that option was definately out of the question. "Help, anyone, please. HELP!" Kyle shouted - not knowing if he was saying it out loud or just in his mind. The smoke was certainly going into his throat now. he coughs continued and as every second passed, Kyle's chance of escape decreased exponentially. His body was hot from the heat - heat of a high enough temperature to tire him out. A single tear slid its way down Kyle's cheek. The innocence of a young American boy's life was about to burn into ashes, and Kyle knew it.

_That's it...there's nothing else I can do. _A single tear was soon followed by a trickle of several tears. Even in his mind, Kyle's voice was full of saddening emotions. _Why did it have to end like this? WHY?! _Kyle burst into tears as his tired body slid down the side of the warm metal wall and he sat down at the bottom. Kyle's eyes turned possessed and he began blindly staring off into the fiery background nearby. 9 and a bit years of his life started to flash before him. Kyle's attention of his surroundings seemed to just shut down. Finally, his eyes closed. As a final consolation of his time on Earth, Kyle gave a young and innocent smile. His closed eyes began to see welcoming rays of white light. _I'll be waiting for you Sarah...I'll be waiting. _Silence.

Kenny was now circling over the factory building. Already, a huge horrific engulfment of fire and flames began to consume the structure. His heart said that he was too late, but his heart beated with a proud, positive beat - telling him he still had time to save not only an innocent human life, but also one of his best friends. Kenny rushed down onto the ground. Using what little energy he had built up in his angellic body, he blasted the front doors off with some kind of light ultrasonic ave - the very same he had practiced to control over the past few days. He ran in. Flames were starting to completely engulf the interior and indoor sections of the factory. Kenny saw by a fully loaded liquid barrel the red ticking numbers of a bomb timer.

**COUNTDOWN: 0M - 51S**

There wasn't time. Kenny had just over thre quarters of a minute to find Kyle and get he hell out of there before the whole thing turned into one giant exploding firework. "KYLE!" Kenny shouted - his parka jacket supplying enough padded protection from the extreme heat. As he flapped his wings wildly back and forth to draft away the flames around him, Kenny suddenly saw a tiny freckle of orange light coming from a door. The door looked to be blocked by some kind of debris. Kenny sprinted over to the door - his wings keeping the wind going to rid the flames around him. _Here we go again! _Kenny let rip another wave of light ultrasonic energy. The debris acted like an exploding bomb - flying off in different directions. Kenny blocked his eyes - thinking small pieces of debris could come flying towards him. With the debris out of the way, Keny pushed the door open. Before he went in, he looked back at one of the countdown clocks.

**COUNTDOWN: 0M 34S**

Kenny didn't have long. As far as he knew t, Kenny would need to be seriously lucky to find Kyle in his first attempt in the room. But he had to tried. He entered the blazing room. The metal walls were glowing orange and red - reflecting the radiating colours of the hellish flames and engulfing heat. "KYLE!" He tried again. "KYYYYYYLE! WHERE ARE YOU!" The thick black smoke was getting to Kenny too. He may have been a third demonic now, but smoke still choked at his throat like it always did.

**COUNTDOWN: 0M 21S**

Twenty seconds left. This was it - it was either now or never. Kenny barged forward through the brightness of the flames. And to both his happiness and shock, there layed Kyle by the wall - unconscious and smiling. His hat had been tilted slightly - the brightness of the flames had lit up the part of his red hair that was exposed. _Right, let's get the hell out of here! _It was time. Kenny had no time to check Kyle over - the most important thing was getting out of there. Standing Kyle up and placing him on his back; wrapping his lifeless arms around his neck, Kenny made a dash for the door. Kenny had to come up with the quickest way out of the building. The main front entrance was way too far awa to make it out in less than twenty seconds. With Kyle riding on his shoulders in a deep sleep, Kenny looked up and immediately was forced for his last resort option. He looked back at a nearby clock.

**COUNTDOWN: 0M 8S**

This was it there was no other choice. _Well let's see who's srongest...the roof...OR ME! _Kenny rocketed off the round and blasted upward toward the ceiling. _This is so gunna FUCKING HUUUUUUUUUURT! _Screaming to in a way, distract the pressure and possible pain, Kenny focused all his angellic light energy that was circulating through his body and bloodstream into his upper part and began smashing through the thick density and strength of the factory's ceilings. Four floors - could Kenny do it.

**COUNTDOWN: 0M 3S**

Out of ground level and into the first floor.

**COUNTDOWN: 0M 2S**

First floor ceiling smashed and racing through the second and third floor.

**COUNTDOWN: 0M 1S**

The forth and fifth floor ceilings were blown away. Kenny could see the night-time light. They were feet away now from the open air.

**COUNTDOWN: 0M 0S**

**BANG!!! **Not even the onamotopeia of the sound could describe the sheer sound of the explosion as the factory building disappeared under a wave of explosive energy. And as the wave began to grow its height to overlap the height of the building, out popped and soared an angellic figure with a young child being carried on his back. _WOOOOOOHOOOOOOOO!!!!!! _He did it! He actually did it! Kenny had saved Kyle from an inevetable death. And as the explosion engulfed the surrounding area, Kenny soared off into the night horizon carrying Kyle on his back. And even in all this chaotic and dramatic action, Kyle still had the bagpack on that he had with him since he left his home. Kenny started to soar slowly across the upper regions of the clear night sky. He turned so that he was flying flat - giving Kyle a chance to hopefully look up at the navy blue and black sky - even at a soaring height of about 5,000 feet. Finally, the fresh open air of the sky had awoken Kyle slightly. Kenny looked back - noticing Kyle was finally opening his eyes. Managing to keep his flying at a constant level and maintaining a steady control, Kenny wrapped his wings around Kyle's body - providing a loving and friendly warmth from a pair of soft huggable angel wings. Kyle's eyes were only half-open and he still felt a bit dazed and confused, but his smile was still visible.

"Am...am I in Heaven?" Kyle asked to what he thought was nobody as he hazilly looked up at the dark night sky. Kenny stayed silent - simply providing the warmth and protection Kyle most certainly needed. "The sky...it's so...beautiful. I must be in Heaven."

Kenny smiled - accepting Kyle's cute innocence. Under all that expressive self-barracading and emotional turns in life, Kyle was a young and cute innocent little boy who anybody could love. _You may still be on Earth, but I promise you, you have the protection of a Guardian Angel all the time Kyle. All the time. _Their friendship may not have as strong as it was previously, but Kenny felt a much closer friendship bonding between him and Kyle. Although Kyle didn't and never could know Kenny was the one who had saved him, Kenny had a feeling that their friendship would always be strong, no matter what.

Back on solid snowy ground, Xerok watched from a distance, the top tips of the explosion rumbling over the horizon. His smile had never disappeared. **_One down, two targets and a 'Guardian' to go._** And just as Xerok was about to bring out his digital sphere to input the log of Broflovski's death, his ears began hearing a soaring sound in the night-time sky. He looked up. His smile disintegrated into a fifty fifty split of shock and anger. There, right above him and flying back towards the residential part of South Park, was Kenny in his angellic form...but most shockingly, with Kyle on his back...alive. In anger, Xerok grabbed the nearest stone he could find and crushed it into a fine powder - the anger that was now inside him being the fuel behind his clenched grip. But Xerok knew it wasn't the end of his World, the mission hadn't completely failed. **_The primary target got lucky._** Xerok started to sprint across the snowy fields - making sure he was both comfortably behind Kenny at all times, but keeping a safe distance to avoid being seen at the same time. **_His luck is about to run out. _**Xerok knew exactly what he was planning once he got the chance. **_Let's see what McCormick has learned with his new powers so far!_**


	31. Early Confrontations

**Chapter 25 – Early Confrontations**

No longer was it a smoky blur of black haze and bright light spots. Instead, Kyle's closed eyes gave off a much better brighter and whiter shining of light. He could feel the warmth of a ceiling light beaming down on him – almost as if he were being interrogated. But it was far from that, not even close to it. He slowly opened his eyes. A blocky orange and brown blur soon began to focus into an image of Kenny looking down at him – smiling and making sure Kyle was alright. Kyle lifted up – realising now he was lying down back on the couch in his own living room. He'd been knocked out asleep for almost an hour now and the passing of time hadn't seemed to have been worked out in his mind.

"Wh-where am I?" Kyle began – struggling to lift himself up. He felt tired and drained at the same time as if his muscles had just suffered from fatigue all of a sudden. "Kenny? Is that you?" His vision still wasn't perfect. His half-open eyes squinted a slightly blurry figure looking down at him.

"Yeh, it's me Kyle. Don't worry, you're safe now."

"Safe? What the…" Kyle made his way up to a seating position. He looked around the room – noticing the familiar-looking surroundings and furniture object. "How did I get back here?" He turned to Kenny with a weary confused look. "What happened? I don't remember a thing."

_Alright, try and make a lie that someone'll actually BELIEVE. _"Well, I was walking down the streets and I suddenly found you unconscious – just lying about, so I took you back here coz' I thought you'd been hurt or you were just tired."

Kyle still looked puzzled and confused. His eyes widened. A flash-back thought triggered in his head. "Wait a minute, now I remember! I got trapped in an old building while it was on fire. I must have got knocked out or sumin. JESUS, I could have died!"

_Bravo Kenny, you could have pointed out the obvious. _Kenny knew it wasn't going to be difficult to convince Kyle. "Right, sorry, that's what I meant to say. I was passing by that old building and I suddenly realised that it was on fire…" _Keep going - don't screw it up! _"…and when I got to one of the rooms to check if anyone was trapped inside, I found you. Without any doubt, I quickly grabbed you and got both of us the hell outa there – right before it exploded into a thousand pieces." _Alright, alright – this isn't an action film Kenny. _Confident that was enough to convince him, Kenny stopped – a silence now engulfing the entire living room area.

"So……YOU……you saved me?!" Kyle was shocked. _Kenny couldn't have done that…could he?_

"Yeh, of course I did. I wouldn't leave you in there to die dude, you're my friend."

"You're……you're serious?!"

"Super duper serious Kyle." _Oh please for God's sakes believe me._

For a few more seconds, Kyle still expressed that same shocked and puzzled look on his face. But as soon as those words of fact sank into his brain and processed themselves to his emotions, Kyle's worried tone dissolved almost instantly – replaced by an almost weak and innocently cute smile.

Kyle grabbed Kenny with both arms and hugged him. Kenny certainly wasn't expecting that – he'd been on his knees on top of the couch looking over at Kyle the whole time.

"Thank Jehovah I have a friend like you Kenny. I don't know what I'd do without someone like you."

Trying to push Kyle back to his couch pillow in an effort to escape from Kyle's 'friendly' hug, Kenny moved back again. "But……you have Stan too y'know."

Like the flick of a coin and the dropping of a penny, Kyle's smile disappeared – replaced now by a mixture of fear and anger. _He's gunna have a lot of answering to do tomorrow at school. _"Yeh…I guess you're right." Obviously, Kyle didn't want to reveal to Kenny that it was Stan who set the factory on fire and it was Stan who had led him in there and it indeed was Stan who rang him up – begging to meet him there to just (at which Kyle mentally laughed) talk about something.

"Would you like me to get you a drink at all Kyle?" Kenny spoke – interrupting Kyle's line of thought; erasing the scarring sight of Stan igniting the liquid petrol on the factory floor from inside his mind.  
"Oh errrrr, yeh sure. Just water please."

"Coming right up."

Meanwhile, on the rooftop of Kyle's home, a dark figure was lurking in the cold black shadows of the tiling's shapes. As he listened well to what was going on using some kind of fingertip press-sensitive micro phonic headset, he prepared himself for when the time was right. **_This time, I WILL end the day knowing I've killed at least one of my missionary targets._**

Back two floors below in the living room, Kenny walked back in and handed Kyle his small glass of cold water. Kyle took a small sip and placed it by the side table. Like the cold snowy weather outside, the water was icy and ticklish on the throat.

"Kyle, what on Earth were you doing in that building. It was on fire for Christ's sake."

"It wasn't before. St……someone…set off a fire from inside."

"What were you doing in there with someone else?" Kyle began explaining his reasons – that Stan had rang up, asked to meet him somewhere secret to discuss something and then a dark shadowed figure appeared in the room and ignited the room with flames and in result, the whole factory building. "Jesus Christ, who'd do such a thing?"

"How should I know, but someone tried to kill me – that's for sure."

"Well…as long as you're safe now, everything's alright then."

"Yeh I guess so." The hands of Kyle's watch caught his eye. His eyes froze in shock at the sight of the hand's positioning. "Jesus! I have to go, sorry Kenny – I'm gunna be late."

"Hey, Kyle wait I…" But it was too late. Kyle had rushed out of the room, put his jacket back on and had picked up the third item that had been sitting next to the door – all of which he did before Kenny could even speak. Kyle hadn't even remembered to lock the front door. He was in such a rush that such a basic thing had slipped his mind. _Oh well, looks like I've got the whole house to myself until he gets back. I hope my parents aren't gunna yell at me when I get back for being too late._

Kenny slipped his parka jacket off – lying it down on the far corner of the couch. It may have been cold outside and even a bit breezy indoors, but strangely enough, Kenny wasn't affected by the temperature as much as he used to be. His body felt warm – strange warmth that seemed un-natural yet comforting. As he combed his fingers through his messed up blond hair and took a deep breath to reflect on one hell of a day, he began to make his way towards the front door. _It may be cold, but I still need a little bit of fresh air. _An uneasy feeling in his body began to awaken. Unsure why, Kenny ignored it and opened the door. The snow that was falling seemed to pick up pace in its descent. Blinding almost, the snow was blowing away from the house – directly forwards from where Kenny was looking. Even out in the open with no jacket and hood on, it still felt like a comfortable slow wind to Kenny. The snow didn't have its prickly muscle-shaking icy feeling that it always had. Snow wasn't as cold as it used to be for him and the wind didn't act as rough. _Same speed, different reaction. _

Kenny took a few more steps forward – closing the door behind him. The uneasy feeling he got had returned. But this time, it was of a more serious magnitude and level. He stopped – shoes and feet pressed down onto the crunching white snow. He looked to his left and right and saw nothing. His face, as serious as serious can be, focused on the surrounding area. _Something's wrong – I can feel it. _If only Kenny knew how right he was. Two floors above, hanging from the rooftop's edge like a hunting gargoyle ready to pounce, Xerok hid in the shadows of the black roof. His eyes, glowing with a piercing white tone, stared violently down on Kenny. He raised a sharpened knife up as if ready to throw it. The blade's razor sharp tip, pointed directly at Kenny's back throat was gripped by the blackened hand of the dark being. **_You think a soar throat hurts, try a blade, McCormick. _**With a confident smile on his face, the blade departed from Xerok's grip – the blade now travelling toward Kenny's throat. The uneasy feeling sharpened itself in Kenny's mind – turning into a pin-point sense of motion behind him. _Jesus Christ! _Within a few tenths of a second as the blade slowly began to make its way towards its target, Kenny performed a back-flip over the blade's path and landed directly behind it. Grabbing the blade's handle, he quickly spun around and tossed the blade back up towards Xerok – the blade now aiming at Xerok. **_HA _**Xerok deflected the blade with the aid of a gun's superior metallic body and began firing streams of bullets at a now running Kenny.

Kenny hid behind the safety of a tree – a tree thick enough to withstand letting bullets pass through it. Kenny's breathing had increased. _It's him……OH GOD it's him! And I'm not even ready for that yet. _Kenny carefully peaked around the edge of the tree. The being wasn't there anymore – the roof was blank again. Kenny walked back out to the front garden. It was silent – the wind being the only source of sound in the area. The black sky gave off hazy shadows of black in the surrounding area – parts of the road and even the opposite snow-covered field was blanketed in mostly darkness. Only a few spots of snow, gravel and grass were visible. _Why did it have to happen in the middle of the night too?! _

He began to walk into the blackness of the field. From the edge onward, it was a progressive gradient of visibility, dimness, blurriness and then, complete blackness. He took a few steps onto the snow. But that was it – a few steps were only needed to come face to face with him again. Kenny stopped and gazed across into the black distance. With no light and absolutely no idea of the surroundings in front of him, Kenny stood firm and watched as two glowing white lights faded into view. There were two of them, as if they were eyes. And just as Kenny had indeed expected, they were eyes. The hot piercing glow of Xerok's white eyes focused on the still Kenny as Xerok walked a few steps forward to confront his enemy. Xerok stopped about 20 feet away from Kenny – directly in front of him and still hiding under the shadowy blackness of the surroundings.

"**Well, well, well. We meet at last." **Xerok began

"So it seems. So you're Xerok huh?"

"**Correct." **Xerok maintained the calm confrontation between the two. Although both of them wanted the other one dead, they still managed to hide their anticipation under a look of coolness. **"I've been watching you and your little friends for some time now."**

"Yeh, I know. And I suppose you've been watching my friend Kyle as well, right – more than me even?!" Kenny started to sound as if he was pressurizing Xerok to speak. Xerok managed to stay cool, but Kenny's grip on a neutral emotion was slipping away.

Xerok laughed under his breath and looked back. **"So, you know about that. Well, I guess you would have known since you saved him from dieing just now."**

"I guess you underestimated me. And I'm only human." It was Kenny's turn now to gain the cocky smile.

"**Oh that's where you're wrong McCormick? And I would have thought you'd be smarter than that." **He laughed. **"Did you forget that you have the blood of those stupid angelic and demonic beings now? Well, I guess you've still maintained you're human skills of being one pathetic little being."**

"And you're calling me pathetic? I heard you're one of the most smartest and evil beings that exists. And yet you couldn't even pull off and kill ONE friend of mine? Well, I guess you're not so big and mighty after all." Kenny laughed – a smug but confident look on his face appeared.

"**You got lucky kid. But don't think it's over. I've got PLENTY MORE tricks up my dark sleeve and trust me……I wouldn't start questioning my superiority."**

"Well you won't even get a chance to pull off any more tricks. Your little 'MAGIC' show is over."

"**Heh, that's the thing I love about magic – no matter what the trick of fascinating ability, you're always guaranteed that the people who see it……will never know HOW IT'S DONE!" **

Without warning, Xerok rushed forward and pounded Kenny across the air another 20 feet – sending him crashing onto the snowy ground in the blackened distance._Shit, I wasn't expecting that. _Kenny couldn't see a thing. The ground, the sky, the surroundings – all black.

"**And the best thing about the darkness……" **Xerok began – secretly walking up to Kenny from an unknown direction. **"……is that it's just like one big magic trick. No matter how many times you try to see how it's done and what it really looks like, you'll never be able to see through it just like others can." **Xerok leaped up into the air – drawing his black sword and aimed it downwards, towards Kenny. Kenny quickly transformed back into his demonic form. His vision went from clear to his infra-red like red and black vision. The surroundings suddenly appeared to him – a mixture of red, black and purple; displaying everything around him, including a falling, incoming Xerok with his blade aimed downwards.Kenny rolled to the side just as Xerok forced the blade down through into the snowy ground. Kenny leaped up and kicked Xerok directly in the face. It knocked Xerok back slightly but long enough for Kenny to get back onto his feet.

Xerok looked back and charged forward with his blade. Aiming the sharp tip forward again, Kenny managed to catch the blade between his hands just as the tip was a mere couple of inches away from his face. There was a tight battle of grasp between Xerok and Kenny. Xerok forcing all he could the sword forward, while Kenny tried as hard as he could to get the sword away from him. Kenny dug deep and found the energy he needed to snatch the blade away from Xerok. Kenny took the blade and tossed it a few hundred feet into the blackened distance. While Xerok's gazed was blindly focused on the flight of his blade, Kenny charged his fist up to the point that it started glowing red hot and threw it forward directly into Xerok's face.

Xerok went flying – the sound of a stone wall surface cracking in the dark distance was heard about fifty feet away. _Woah, I can't believe I actually did that. _But it wasn't over yet. Kenny's red and black vision pictured the crumbling of a stone wall as Xerok angrily barged his way out of the stone rubble. Xerok rubbed his thumb across his cheek and licked it. The taste was cold and metallic. **_Not bad, he actually made me bleed slightly. _**Cockily brushing his long black hair with his fingers and straightening his jacket collar, Xerok closed his eyes and began to focus. The ground rumbled slightly and Xerok started to glow with a disturbing red light. _Oh God, I don't like the look of this. _Xerok clenched his fists and opened his eyes again. Quickly and dangerously, he unleashed a massive sphere of red chaotic energy towards Kenny. The angry glow of the energy lit up the snow during its path towards Kenny. _Jesus Christ! _Kenny put his arms up in an X shape to block himself. He focused hard and began glowing with a crystal-like red light that encapsulated his whole body. _I hope this goddamn barrier's strong enough. _The sphere of red energy made contact and exploded directly in front of Kenny. Kenny forced his eyes closed. The impact sent him skidding across the floor – his feet never lifting off the ground as he did so.

As he opened his eyes and dropped his arms, he saw Xerok charging towards him – ready to fight. Kenny prepared himself and raised his hands. The two began to engage each other in a melee of combat. Like two martial arts professionals, Kenny and Xerok fought across the ground and even in the air – using every move of fighting and physical combat that possibly existed on Earth. The sharp red appearance that Kenny saw Xerok as never left his vision as the two raged their war all across the dark, blackened field. As the wind and friction of their fight started to build up, the rumble of the air started to feel like an earthquake. Punch for punch, kick for kick and supernatural ability for supernatural ability – the two were equal in almost every way possible.

Finally, after ten minutes of a continuous raging battle, the two moved back from each other and slowly floated down back onto the ground. As they both began to breathe hard after a draining early confrontation, they continued to gaze at one another. Finally, after a minute of heavy breathing, the two finally fell into silence.

Xerok smiled. **"Not bad……for a human."**

"Don't you mean human, angel AND demon?!"

"**It certainly seems it now. But don't think you've got the advantage over me. You've barely seen what my real power is like."**

"Well, at least it was a good warm-up for me."

Xerok laughed again. **"Don't get too cocky kid; you're nowhere strong enough to beat me yet." **Xerok leaped up into the air and jumped to where his sword was stuck in the ground – much to Kenny's surprise. Xerok pulled the blade out and placed it on his back. **"As they say, you may have won the battle, but you haven't won the war. No matter how long it takes, I will win McCormick……and your little friends WILL DIE." **

Kenny tried chasing Xerok to fight him again. But it was already too late. As soon as Xerok had finished speaking, he had already disappeared into the shadows again – completely disappearing from the area and departing to another of his secret hide-out areas. Kenny looked onward to the far blackened areas of his red vision. Sighing, Kenny transformed back into his human form – the red vision now disappearing and returning to a completely blackened look of his surroundings. Kenny collapsed onto the snowy ground and looked up at the darkened sky – his arms and legs stretched out and his blond hair's roots touching the frosty snowflakes of the ground.

"Man, this is one tough thing. I'd never imagine it would be THIS difficult." Kenny remained lying on the ground for a few more minutes – his mind focused on the obvious more now than it ever was before.


	32. Finally, He's There

**Chapter 26 – Finally, He's There**

_Come on; don't slip up on the last thirty seconds of the last tune tonight. _Maxwell was focused. The full 2 hour performance had gone really well for them. A full house of watching people was combined with a sense of praise seen on the faces of the audience both in the main hall and from the people who were leaning on the edge of the hall's top balcony. Maxwell and Andy were rapping up the final rhythm of the last track with their Guitars – Maxwell on Acoustics and Andy on Bass. James slowly faded out the last few loops of a beat on his mixer while Josh made the final big bang of drums and cymbals. And it wasn't long before Sarah played out the final few twinkling notes on the piano – an innocently blended mood of high-toned keys and backing sounds. And just as the final note slowly faded away into the streams of air, she slowly let her hands hover away from the keypad.

The silence of the track's end was soon replaced by a wave of applause from the audience. Claps, cheers and whistling made every one of the Hunters glad that everything turned out alright…well, in Sarah's case, partly alright. Moving away and placing their instruments down, the five of them aligned themselves in a row, joined together by the hands and took their respectful bow to the audience. The curtain slowly slid down to its touching point on the stage. The performance was over.

10 minutes had passed. The audience were still finding their way to the exit points of the centre. Maxwell and the other lads had already started to pack their stuff together into the boxes and bags they came in. But Sarah sat still – looking down at the ground next to her piano in a disappointing tone of emotions. She had been expecting something to occur before and during the performance, but it never happened. She felt sad, she felt confused, but she didn't feel angry.

Spotting his sister's upset look, Maxwell walked over – Guitar bag over his shoulder and sat down by her side.

"Hey, maybe he just got held up."

"For two hours? I doubt it."

Maxwell sighed. "Look, I'm sure he really wanted to come."

"But he didn't, that's the point. But why though? How and why could he and would he miss this, after he said that he would come."

Maxwell was running out of ideas to make Sarah feel better. "Well……maybe he was here…maybe you just didn't see him."

Sarah accepted finally Maxwell's reasoning. "Yeh……maybe. After all, there were a lot of people here tonight."

"Just ask him tomorrow. I'm sure he WAS here."

"Alright, I will."

Patting her on the shoulder and giving her a reassuring smile, Maxwell walked back over to help pack up the rest of the equipment.

"Alright, that's everything." Sarah heard Josh call out from the corner of the darkened stage. "We've still got a bit of time left until we can go back. We might as well go and get something to eat – there's bound to be some kind of food stall in this place."

"Hey Sarah, you comin'?" Maxwell asked – shouting over to Sarah whom remained sitting beside her piano.

"Huh, oh no thanks – I still need to move my piano a bit and pack a few more stuff."

"Alright, you want us to get'cha anything?"

"Just a drink please……anything will do, I'm not bothered."

Nodding, Josh led the other three out of the stage area and around back into the main area of the centre. Sarah looked around now – no one was around. No one was on stage and everyone had now left the arena area where the stage was. Peaking through the red curtain to check everyone had gone, she began pulling on the ropes of the curtain – managing to just lift it back up to the stage ceiling. She slowly walked back over to her piano and sat down on its seat.

She began playing again. The tune was just like the ones she had played during the performance – sweet, young-minded and very melodic. A few minutes of piano music passed and suddenly, Sarah heard a low-toned beat somewhere around her. She stopped playing. _Huh, what was that? _Thinking it was nothing, she continued playing. But again, the sound was heard once more. _What on Earth is that sound? _She resumed playing again, but this time, the sound seemed to play into the piano music – as if it were part of the tune. _I wonder if this'll work. _Sarah played a few notes on the piano at which the low-toned sound followed the rhythm of the music by playing a few notes of its own. She repeated it, the same occurred. And then, Sarah realised. _That's a bass sound – someone around here's playing a Bass Guitar. _

She looked around. "Andy? You in here?!" The bass sound started again. The direction of it came from stage right. Sarah followed the sound. And out of the shadows of the stage sides and into the lone lights of stage centre stepped Kyle – holding the 3rd item he had brought with him here – his precious Bass Guitar. Sarah's face beamed with delight. _He made it after all! _Kyle's smile and smooth finger twanging on the bass strings raised a happy smile back onto Sarah's face too. Happy to see him again, Sarah felt the musical happiness inside her ignite again and she began to play the Piano again – Kyle's bass supplying the warm and moody backing for this musical ballad. And after a minute of playing together, the two finally faded out their musical combinations and looked at each other with gazing smiles.

"So you made it then?" Sarah began

"Yeh……I'd never miss you performing like you just did now. That was beautiful."

"Hey, you stole my words." Sarah laughed. "I was about to say that too. I never knew you could play the Bass so beautifully and tranquilly as that."

"Oh…well…y'know……practice makes perfect I guess." Kyle replied – looking down at the ground and rolling his right foot across the stage floor. Sarah could sense it, Kyle's face had turned slightly red so she decided to go in for the kill and drag him deeper into this love conversation. She stood up and walked over to him.

"But I never DID see you anywhere in here during our performance. So where were you?"

"Oh, I errrrrr…ummmm……I got a bit tied up at home so I got here a bit late and whatnot."

"Ah ha, I knew it." Sarah started lightly poking Kyle on the chest. "You didn't come to the performance did yer'?"

"I did Sarah, honestly. It's just……Stan wanted to talk to me somewhere weird and then I got delayed slightly and then ummmm…missed the bus and then got lost again and……stuff."

"OK, I believe you." Sarah replied – still expressing a cheeky but innocently cute smile. _Now that's one hell of a lil' fib……but I'll forgive him._

"YOU. You and your little delays and stuff." Sarah spoke – poking Kyle again.

"You and your little cute piano music too." Kyle replied – poking Sarah back.

The two began play-fighting and it wasn't long before things got a little bit children silly. Sarah fell to the ground – grabbing Kyle on her way down and the pair of them collapsed onto the soft stage flooring. As they laughed at their self-stupidity and silliness, they looked in each other's eyes and saw the very same twinkling light of happiness.

"I'm so glad I got to know you Kyle. You're the cutest and sweetest person I've ever EVER known."

Kyle blushed a little. "Oh thanks – not many people have said that before. I'm a little embarrassed saying this……but I think you're really cute and pretty Sarah."

"Awwwww, no one's ever said that to me before. Thanks." Sarah kissed Kyle on the cheek for the umpteenth time. But she didn't expect what was to happen next.

_It's now or never. _Kyle smiled back and gave Sarah an even bigger and longer kiss then what Sarah provided. But it wasn't on the cheek, it was on the lips. As soon as Kyle's lips moved back, Sarah was in shock. But her shock soon turned to a giddy and exciting delight. Sarah grabbed hold of Kyle and rolled him around so that Sarah was lying on top of him.

Kyle smiled back. _Oh no you don't. _Kyle responded by grabbing Sarah and rolling her and himself so that it was Sarah who was looking up now. The two laughed and began rolling each other around like two happy young little kids – kids who were indeed, in love.

Five minutes passed and Sarah & Kyle found themselves out of breath lying on the stage floor on their sides, looking at one another.

"Phew, I haven't had that much fun in a long time." Sarah spoke – remains of her laughter still present in her voice.

"Yeh, me too. That was fun." Kyle replied – expressing a small left-over stash of smiles and laughter in his breathless voice.

Sarah looked down at the side of Kyle's smart-casual jacket. "Awww, why didn't you bring your nice lil' orange jacket?"

"I wanted to come dressed smart but still ordinary-looking."

"But I was going to tell you what that object in your polyester jacket pocket was."

"Object?"

_Yay, he still hadn't noticed it was there all the time. _"Well, I guess I'll just have to explain what I mean then won't I?" Sarah giggled. As she began explaining how she had managed to sneak a precious object into Kyle's pocket without him ever noticing, Kyle was left feeling embarrassingly silly. But it was not until Sarah told him what the object actually was, that a mixture of shock, delight and happiness flooded into his head.

_Wow, she must really love me if she really wanted to give me THAT. _Kyle was much more intrigued now to find out what this object actually looked like now that Sarah had given him the description of it.

And as the two continued to lye by each other's side on the stage floor, up on the darkest area of the upper balcony, a shadowed figure stood leaning on the balcony railing with a smirk on his face.

_**Peh, their love will be the tool of the targets' demise.**_


	33. Part I: The Love Pride

**Chapter 27a – The Love Pride**

Later that night, as the thick walls of white snow descended upon the town, Kyle had finally got back home just in the nick of time to not get in trouble. He was now lying in bed – his smart-casual clothes wrapped and scrunched up into a ball by the corner of his bedroom. As Kyle lay in bed – his navy blue pyjamas softly brushing up against the thick quilts of his bed, he puzzlingly started searching every nook and cranny of his orange jacket. As he continued searching, doubts were building up in his head. _Either she's hid this thing pretty good……or she was just messing with my head. _Finally, after a few minutes of desperation, his hand finally felt the bulging presence of an object in one of his deep inner pockets.

Kyle had never ever used his jacket's inside pockets before – but then again, he never did carry any secondary objects that weren't in his bag or in his army green trouser pants. _AHA, there it is_. He finally felt the real touch of it and began to pull it out from the deep depths of his inner jacket.

Finally, it appeared out of the orange of the polyester. The object had a chain attached to it. As Kyle dangled the chain from his fingers, he gazed at the incredible sight of the object that linked itself with the chain. _WOW, that's so beautiful. _As the object freely spun a few times, Kyle soaked in the magnitude of the object's sheer beauty and incredible detail. At first, Kyle denied what he saw, but it soon came apparent that it was real. The object was a solid silver version of the Religious Jewish symbol – the Star of David. However, in the middle of the symbol, instead there being a hexagon-shaped hole where the star's lines surrounded, the empty hole was in the shape of a love heart. And to add to the shining beauty, each point of the star had a small precious stone engraved into it. On the top and bottom points were tiny circular stones of diamond, whereas the other points had stones of blue sapphire engraved in. There was no doubt about it, this could only mean one thing……and Kyle certainly knew what that was. _I was right all along……she loves me……she must really love me. _

An innocent young smile engraved itself onto Kyle's face. Kyle had never been successful in having a girlfriend who shared the same emotions and expressive feelings about both him and the surroundings around them, but it seemed Kyle had finally found the very one who he believed never existed in the Whole World. _And here was me thinking that I was the loneliest person in the World._

Suddenly, Kyle spotted a dangling piece of small paper attached to the chain. Moving the chain across his palm to the paper's point, he grabbed the piece and carefully looked at it. It was a note – a note written by Sarah, for Kyle. He began reading it.

**My mother gave this to me when I was really young. She said that it's a very precious heirloom that has been passed down by the Jewish side of my family for generations. Mum told me that whoever receives it next in the family, are destined to give it to the one that they wish to share their love with. And well……since you're the cutest and loveliest person I know, I thought that you deserve to have it. Please don't reject it; I really really really want you to have it. Thanks for coming into my life and letting me get to know you, I thank you for everything you've done to make me feel welcomed.**

**- xxx Sarah Hunter xxx**

_WOW. _Kyle had been given a family's heirloom – especially an heirloom of such enormous purpose and reasoning. He never imagined for one bit that he would receive something so special…special at which made him happier than he ever had been. _Maybe I should return the favour…somehow._

Slowly sliding the object back into his jacket pocket and placing it on nearby table, Kyle tucked himself deep in the warm thick quilt and covers of his bed and pressed his head against the squashy pillows below. As he tilted his head right to look at the object on the table, the smile never disappeared from his face. He slowly closed his eyes and finally, went to sleep – that smile lasting for the whole of the night.


	34. Part II: Analysis 5

**Chapter 27b – Analysis 5**

Although it may have felt nice and warm inside the safety ad comfort of the town's residential houses, the same couldn't be said for the outside surroundings. The snow combined devilishly with the gusting arctic wind to from a blizzard of cold weather. But it didn't matter – Xerok liked the cold weather. After all, a cold-blooded being survived well in the enemy weather of human liking.

The snowfall was thick and blinding almost – wind blowing at over 60mph and layer upon layer of solid snow lumps crashed down from the dark heavens like tiny chips of stones. As Xerok continued to walk across the dark snowy fields and plains of grass, he felt the overconfidence in his mission's success come back to him. **_Now I definitely know how to deal with this whole objective. _**The love relationship between Kyle and Sarah had given a much needed secondary idea to succeed. He found it pathetic that at times, human emotions and reactions could be so pitiful, yet predictable at the same time. **_Shame they can't predict the future, otherwise this mission would have been a lot harder than it is._** As he finally came to a small collection of tall trees in the darkened field, he slid his body down the side and finally placed himself on the wet, snowy ground next to the tree.

Pulling out his digital sphere, Xerok gazed at the illuminated 3-D screen. As he stared at his mission objective list on a data log window, he knew that it was only a matter of days before all of them would have been accomplished and fully executed. **_Scare, Hunt, Terminate. _**The mission's three main words etched into his dark mind like parasitic leeches.

But tonight was a night of relax – he felt too confident in his mission to be focused on any objectives or future tactical plans. Xerok commanded the sphere with his fingers again and opened up what looked like a digital media player. Placing his wireless headphones in his ears, he loaded up what could only be described as a playlist of music. Even for one of the most evil beings ever to exist in the Universe, Xerok was certainly a music-lover. But not to music of an Earthy nature – Xerok found pleasure in a genre much more twisted and powerful in sound and meaning. **_Dark Electronica – my favourite. _**

Xerok had researched the existence of music on Earth – discovering that the humans of Earth certainly knew how to express sound through music, lyrics and other noises of rhythm and beat-based purpose. But he laughed at what he discovered. Punk Rock, Death Metal, Rap, Trip-Hop, House, Big-Beat – they all made him laugh. In Xerok's eyes, humans never would know what the true sound of expression, emotions and even fear would ever sound like. Their ridiculous efforts to sing and portray things such as pain, love, freedom and hatred was overshadowed by what believed, was the true understanding of how things should be portrayed in audio. Xerok knew that humans of different classes and moods had their own ways to express feelings in music, but Xerok believed there was only one advanced genre that truly defined feelings and emotions.

Xerok pressed Play on the window. The sounds radiating from Xerok's Bluetooth-enabled headphones were of a dark and corruptive sort. Electronic beats, rhythms, beeps and noises mysteriously synched together in perfect time to create tunes of very dark-based moods and feelings. There were no lyrics, not even voices, just continuous loops, beats and tunes of the unknown sort. But apart from the simple pleasure of a recreational listen, Xerok had a secret and very sinister plan for using this music to his further advantage. **_Only then will it be the time that a human becomes controlled by the power of Dark Electronica. _**The music continued playing into Xerok's ears. He knew it – his sick audio pleasure would eventually reveal something very sinister to occur within the area around him.


	35. Tommy The Teddy Bear

**Chapter 28 – Tommy The Teddy Bear, Stan Marsh The Depressed**

Finally, it was Friday. The final day before the hopefully long weekend - at which was followed by another boring week of school. There were a few in the classroom who were feeling the infamous end-of-week tiredness of it being Friday and whatnot, but none more than Kenny. But it was for more than the reason of a school Friday that had got Kenny tired. Throughout the dark night of Thursday, Kenny had begun sensing really odd cold feelings in his body. Obviously, he realised what the source of the feeling was. _He's up to something again. _But unlike the other times, it felt somehow different – more chilling, more spikier and worse yet, more sinister. Whatever Xerok had up his sleeves, Kenny knew this was certainly no novice magic trick. _I better keep my guard up just in case he tries anything serious or dangerous again._

As Kenny comfortably parked himself on his desk seat and placed his bag down by the seat's leg, he spotted Sarah and Kyle coming into the room…together. They weren't holding hands physically, but Kenny had a feeling that if they could, they would be doing it mentally. _Lucky Kyle – looks like he's finally found a girl of his own, good for him. _Of course like all good friends would be, Kenny was over the moon that Kyle finally had a girlfriend. Kyle had surrendered to the fact that he and Sarah were in love and Kenny had homed in on the scene to share his delight. Last night's little encounter had taught him just how much a friendship had been bonded between him and Kyle in the recent weeks. Kyle still had no idea; Kenny only wished he could tell him. _Friends should never keep secrets about each other…but in this case, I guess the secret is better than the truth. _

Kyle and Sarah took their seats – smiles still on their faces like they always had been. It wasn't long before Maxwell made himself the penultimate kid to enter the classroom and take his seat.

"Y'know, I can't believe that." Maxwell began – grabbing Sarah's attention in doing so. "We've been here for just over two weeks now and I've JUST now found my iPod. Bloody hell, how I've missed THIS."

There were still a few minutes left until the first lesson actually began – enough to listen to at least 1 track on his music player. Maxwell skimmed through the opened play list and picked his song – one of his favourites and one of his all-time favourites. The play list closed and the track began playing on a medium-selected volume:

**Keane – Is It Any Wonder? (Under The Iron Sea - Piano Rock; Electronica Rock; Alternate)**

Maxwell stared into the digital screen of his player – singing along to the words in his head whilst joking about it at the same time. _Heh, is it any wonder that I'm tired?! Yeh, that's coz' I didn't get any bloody sleep last night. _A row behind, Kenny started sensing something odd. It felt different……yet familiar at the same time. _Jesus Christ, it's that cold feeling I got last night……it's back._

But Kenny easily waved it away in his mind. Back to focus, he noticed something odd. Stan hadn't arrived yet – he was the only kid in the class who wasn't sat at his desk or even here yet. _That's odd, I wonder where he is. _But it wasn't long of a wait. Finally, out of the empty corridor of outside, Stan Marsh walked in – hands in his jacket pockets, blue pants creased at the bottom and his face looking down at the floor with a glum and worse yet, sad look on it.

Kyle eyed him as if he were a walking criminal in a murder trial. His face certainly not of a happy sort. Stan never saw Kyle's face and his arrow-like stare. Stan had his vision completely glued to the cold surface of the classroom floor as he too took his seat by his desk and placed his bag by the side – not saying a single word. As the lesson minutes ticked by, Stan continued to stare down at his desk – trapped in a continuous loop of depression and confusion.

As soon as the class were set work on paper, Stan knew this was a perfect opportunity. Looking to his left ever so slowly and carefully, he spotted Kyle staring down at his paper and getting on with his work. Kyle still had that annoyed look on his face. But Stan simply saw it as Kyle's obvious focus on the work at hand. Stan raised a smile finally and continued with his work too.

Two hours later, recess had finally found its way on the day's progression of time. For the first time in a while, the four boys had gone their separate ways on the playground. Kenny had sneaked his way to the far corner to focus on something. Cartman tried his luck at bullying a few 3rd graders to play American football with him, Stan stayed stood on one corner of the ground – staring and watching as Kyle slowly walked alongside Sarah and Maxwell as they continued discussing something. Kyle didn't see Stan……which was good for the time being.

"Really……you mean it?!" Sarah asked – sounding excited and somewhat happy.

"Yeh, there's a service taking place on Sunday at the local synagogue. I was gunna go with my family but it'd be great if you two guys came as well."

"Really, you mean it? Wow, I'd love to. I'm sure Maxwell would love to come too, right bro?" Sarah gave her brother a nudge on the side.

Pausing the playing of one of his play-list tunes, Maxwell looked back – managing to catch enough information to give a reply. "Huh, oh yeh sure, I'm sure it'll be great."

"Cool, so do you wanna come 'round mine or should I come 'round your place?" Kyle asked – the smile on his face continuing to shine.

"Whichever is best Kyle – I don't mind." Sarah's smiles shone the same way.

"Alright, I'll come over to your house then."

"Great, see yer' back in class Kyle."

As Sarah walked away from the two boys, Maxwell drew Kyle around to walk him across the snowy ground again. "Hey, listen Kyle; I need to tell you something that you may find important."

"Sure, what's that?"

"Well, I don't know whether she mentioned it to you yet or not but………it's Sarah's birthday on Wednesday – she'll be 10 and I just thought that you should know."

_WOW, it's her Birthday next week? _"Her Birthday? Jesus, that's only 5 days from now."

"I know; I was going to go to the mall over the weekend to pick up a present for her. Did you want to get her anything?"

_WOULD I! _"Of course, I'd never ignore a Birthday, especially Sarah's. Do yer' have any ideas on what I could get her – I've got nothing on my mind on what she likes?"

_I might as well ask him to try and get this. _"Well……" Maxwell placed his arm around Kyle's shoulder in order to create a barrier of secrecy about what he was about to tell him. "……there is one thing that you COULD try and get her. You see, a few years back, Sarah once had this really cute and adorable-looking teddy bear……she called it Tommy. (God knows why) Unfortunately, she had it nicked…"

"Nicked?"

"Stolen…she had it stolen."

"Oh, right."

"Anyway……when it was stolen, Sarah was in tears – she wouldn't stop crying for at least a few days after that."

"God, that's awful."

"I know. She may not show it, but I have a feeling she still misses that teddy bear. I know the possibility of you finding that ONE special teddy bear is extremely slim, but if possible, could you have a look for a teddy bear that looks exactly like the one she had?"

"Sure, what does it look like?"

"Well, hmmmmm let me think. Oh yeh, it was light brown in colour and it wore a little red winter jacket and woolly hat along with a pair of brown boots. If you can't get one exactly like that, that's fine. But if you can, that would certainly make Sarah's Birthday a really special one."

"Alright cool, I'll do my best Maxwell – don't you worry."

"Nice. Alright I'm off to listen to this - see yer' Kyle." Maxwell replied as he went his own separate way. Maxwell pressed the play button again and continued the current track playing. He couldn't resist singing along to the words in his head. _If I lye here, if I just LYE here. Would you lye with me, and just forget the World._

Kyle stood on his own – going back through the description of the teddy bear that Maxwell had given to him. _It was light brown in colour and it wore a little red winter jacket and woolly hat along with a pair of brown boots. _"Red jacket, red woolly hat, brown boots, light brown in colour - GOT IT."

With Kyle on his own, Stan saw this as the perfect moment to go up and talk to him. Bad decision. Kyle had his back to Stan and was unaware of his incoming presence. Suddenly, he felt the warm presence of someone behind him. "You're back huh?" Kyle began, presuming it was Sarah – raising a smile as he did so. "What do you n-" But as Kyle rotated 180 degrees, his smile quickly disintegrated into a deadly mixture of shock and more obvious, anger. "Oh Stan………it's you." His eyebrows arched downward like a deep valley.

"Hey dude." Stan happily replied. _I wonder what he's so annoyed about? I bet Cartman's been pissing him off again. _"How you doing Kyle?"

_Oh he's got to be fucking kidding. _Kyle didn't know whether to laugh or show more anger at Stan's seemingly happy attitude. _Look at him – acting as if nothing ever happened. What does he take me for……a fucking idiot?! _Kyle's annoyed inner thoughts seemed to magnetise themselves to the point that Stan looked slightly worried.

"Hey Kyle, you alright?" Stan tried to walk closer but Kyle moved back slightly. "Dude, what's wrong?"

Kyle raised a sarcastic smile and laughed under his breath. "What's wrong? WHAT'S WRONG!? I think you god dam know what's wrong……FRIEND!"

"Kyle?" Stan looked worried. This was certainly not the Kyle he knew.

"Don't give me that Stan. I can see right through you like glass. Teh……and to think…I believed you when you said you were alright about me getting to know those two a bit more……especially Sarah."

"Kyle……what are you talking about? I said I was alright about it." Stan sympathetically replied. Stan wasn't aggressive. He knew better than anyone else that it was never the right option to be aggressive back whenever Kyle was.

Kyle gave him a harsh cold stare that seemed to chill Stan right to the core. "Really? So why is it that you rang me last night, PROCLAIMED that you wanted to just talk to me somewhere and NEXT THING……you set the whole fucking place on fire? Are you fucking crazy?! I COULD HAVE DIED!"

_What the hell is Kyle suggesting……I'd never do anything like that! _"Kyle……I have no idea what you're on about. I never…" But before Stan could get even a grip in the power of the conversation, Kyle's voice came roaring back.

"No idea? NO IDEA?! You really are full of shit Stan! I know dam well that it was YOU who called me……it was YOU who PLEADED with me to meet you at the fireworks factory for a LITTLE CHAT..." Kyle took a few steps forward towards the frightened Stan. "…and I know dam well that it was YOU who set the place on fire……thus, trying to fucking kill me!"

Stan's face was a picture – a picture of a shock and horror. _K-k-k-kill you? _"No……NO…Kyle, you've got it all wrong, I'd never……"

Kyle continued to listen to Stan's wave after wave of self-defence – defence Kyle knew as just as pathetic as his brave innocent face that he was putting on. Kyle gritted his teeth and couldn't stand it any longer. He started to feel a burning rage build up inside him. But this ball of rage felt different – even Cartman had never made Kyle feel this kind of rage before. The rage ignited into a blazing inferno inside Kyle's mind and soul and without warning, Kyle yelled out in anger and barged Stan to the floor. The recess playground feel silent – numerous pairs of eyes focused on the confrontation of Marsh and Broflovski.

As Stan hit the snowy ground, his red and blue woolly hat slipped off his head and lay innocently beside him. Stan sat with his hands and feet pressing on the ground. Stan was scared – he's never seen Kyle this angry in a long time. Kyle looked down at him with an angered look as if he were about to do something to him.

"See this!?" Kyle expressed in an angered and commanding tone. He picked out a piece of lined paper from out of his jacket pocket. "This paper represents our friendship."

Stan hoped what he predicted would happen was wrong, but he knew he was dam right. _No……Kyle…don't! _Stan thought – his mental voice even having its own upsetting tone of expression. But what he predicted eventually did happen. Like some kind of slow-motion dramatic sequenced in an action film, Kyle tore the piece of paper into two halves. Stan's heart started to feel the same way as the paper did……ripped apart and broken. But to add to Stan's realisation of how Kyle felt, Kyle continued to shred, tear and rip the paper pieces apart until it was nothing more than a hand-full collection of little pieces of scrap paper. Sprinkling them onto the snow in front of Stan, Kyle expressed the last few words he and Stan would ever possibly share together. "Consider our friendship……DEAD!"

The word seemed to hit Stan like a bullet. Stan stared blankly into the white oblivion of the snow as he heard Kyle's footsteps echoing away from him off into the distance. Stan's eyes started to twitch and his nose was getting blocked ever so sudden. A twinkling in Stan's eyes appeared and it wasn't long before the upsetting scenario occurred. Stan sat in the snow……completely bursting into tears……tears that expressed just how upset he was to lose Kyle as a friend.

A few feet away, Kyle never even looked back at the sight of Stan sitting in the snow with his face covered in the tears of one upset and broken little boy. The sound of Stan's pain did hit him inside, but Kyle knew what he done was final. _I can never forgive someone who tried to kill me……especially someone who I thought was my best friend. _Finally, Kyle gave a quick look back at the broken Stan. _And to think……I loved him as a friend._

Half a mile away on a high-peaked hill, with zoomed in high-tech binoculars jumping slightly around his neck, the being that showed no mercy was rolling on the floor with laughter. **_Oh I wish I had some popcorn and a box of tissues, this is all too much._**


	36. Like MOTHER, Like Son Kenny

**Chapter 29 – Like MOTHER, Like Son Kenny**

The Heaven CADACC Building is located exactly 1 mile North of the Angelic City Square and 1.4 miles North-East of the Angelic Temple. The building bears the same structural shape as its Hell-based counterpart except that the colour of the mysterious metallic architecture is green, cyan and white. Apart from the actual location of the building, everything inside and around the structure bears the same resemblance to the CADACC building in Hell. Kenny had been called up into Heaven as he was needed for what they described as 'an important and crucial step in tracking down Xerok'. He found himself being guided through the animosity of the CADACC structure by Ageliss. The Heaven version of the building seemed to be something Kenny classed as his second-favourite look. He like Hell's version of the building much better – its red, black and purple exterior, the cool metallic flooring, the strange and super-natural feel inside the building that in Kenny's opinion, Heaven's version failed to accomplish to the same extreme level.

Although he had already been inside the structure in Hell, Kenny was once more putting his faith into Ageliss' guiding movement as he followed the angelic being down and through numerous metal corridors, rooms, chambers and technology facilities. Finally, Kenny had reached his target destination, Heaven CADACC'S Research Conference Room. As a cyan-shaded barrier disappeared from the room's entrance door, Ageliss and Kenny stepped in. Kenny was immediately greeted by the board of high-power angelic beings.

"Ah, you must be Kenny. Please to meet you, child. I am Halayro – the…"

Kenny quickly butted in. "Let me guess, you're the boss guy in charge here, right?"

Halayro smiled. "Ah, you're good Kenny, very good. Please, take a seat."

Kenny and Halayro sat at either ends. Kenny was surprised Ageliss had sat down too. "Aren't you taking a seat too Ageliss?" Kenny asked – looking over his shoulder at a still standing Ageliss.

"Oh no, not me. This meeting is between you and the director."

_Yeh, this is ONE BIG meeting alright. _Kenny rolled his eyes.

"Now then Kenny, as you are aware, Ageliss informed you that you we need your presence here."

"That's right, he said something about something that would help me even more catch Xerok……however that might be."

"Correct, our scientists and technology researchers have come up with a new sensor protocol for your SEDET device that'll allow you to track Xerok down in any dimension possible……anywhere. You HAVE brought the device with you, right?"

"Sure have." Kenny picked out the metallic technological sphere and placed it on the oval-shaped table.

Halayro took hold of it and passed it to a nearby guard. "Take this to the team the floor below. Tell them to install the protocols and programs on this ASAP."

"Yes sir." With the sphere tightly gripped in his hand, the guard walked out of the room through another door.

"Anyway Kenny, there is one major thing that we need to discuss…and it's concerning why we brought you here to update your SEDET device."

"What do you mean?"

"OK, listen to me very carefully Kenny. There's something about Xerok and his dark power that I think you should know."

Kenny began listening. The minutes of Heaven's time progression ticked by. It felt like hours had passed when the director had finally finished speaking. But by then, Kenny had been frozen into a shocked state. "NO……WAY."

"Yes way Kenny, I'm afraid you've been underestimating Xerok's power all this time."

_I'VE been underestimating?! _"So this is all true? Xerok can really do that?!"

"Yes……it is indeed something to worry about. We're all positive Xerok intends to use that ability sometime in the near future. It's just a matter of WHEN."

Kenny looked down at the table. "Jesus Christ, that is messed up……literally."

"Well don't worry Kenny. Like I said, the SEDET device once it's updated will help you track Xerok – even when he's using that 'ability' of his. Plus, it'll also show the other required biomass and spirit details when necessary, so that'll make it much easier for you to track him down."

"That's good. If what you're saying is true, then I've got one shot of killing him…when he's using that THING of his."

"Exactly……so be careful…and be cautious." Halayro stood up. "Anyway, the SEDET device needs some time for the programs and protocols to be finished and fully installed and working properly on it." He turned to Ageliss. "Ageliss."

"Yes sir?" Ageliss shot up and stood as tall and proud like a soldier.

"Take Kenny to the underground oasis of Heaven." He turned to Kenny and smiled. "Kenny's got plenty of time on his hands at the moment so why don't you show him what he hasn't seen yet of Heaven."

"Yes sir. Kenny, this way." As Ageliss began guiding him down the high-level corridor, Kenny had an expected confused look on his face. _Show me what I HAVEN'T seen yet? And what exactly is that?!_

-

Back on Earth, Kyle sat by his computer at home – browsing through endless pages of shopping websites and Internet trading companies, anywhere that would sell teddy bears. As his gaze focused on the screen in front of him, his mind kept looping the description over and over again. _It was light brown in colour and it wore a little red winter jacket and woolly hat along with a pair of brown boots._

"There must be somewhere on here that'll sell stuff like that…surely." Kyle spoke to himself, remembering he was the only one even upstairs, so the embarrassment of talking to himself was limited to only him. _Oh well, last resort time. _Kyle had seen enough. He had browsed through dozens of shopping websites – all of which either didn't sell teddy bears or completely inversed his required description. _Who would have thought teddy bears could be blue. _Not that it was unbelievable, but Kyle had never seen such a thing in real-life.

And just as he said, Kyle was forced to use his last resort website……none other than everyone's favourite shopping and bargain site. _Buy it, sell it, love it – that's what eBay say._ Kyle would have preferred is he had bought Sarah's present in a real retail store rather tha on-line. He was always the type of person who preferred the buzz of a real-life buy rather than some kind of digital and virtual trade of goods for money. Kyle's dad had given him permission to buy something off the Internet using his credit card. Kyle knew not to overdo it and terms of the asking price of what he was looking for. _Come on, does he really think I'm going to go overboard, jeez. _He never liked to even think of the possibility that he would. As long as he knew what the right thing was to do, than he knew that the wrong thing to do it was an impossibility. Kyle typed the words into the eBay search engine on the site's homepage.

**SEARCH: TEDDY BEAR**

Clicking the Search Button, the engine went into a fit as it blurted out thousands and thousands of search results. _JESUS CHRIST, I only want one. _Browsing through EVERY result was something Kyle didn't have time for. He looked to the left hand side and entered some more specific details.

**COLOUR: LIGHT BROWN**

**SIZE: SMALL**

**CLOTHING ACCESSORIES: YES**

**(IF YES) WHAT: RED JACKET, WOOLY HAT, BROWN BOOTS**

**SEARCH WORD: TEDDY BEAR**

He clicked the search button again.

**7 Results. **_Thank God. Let's hope I can find what I'm looking for._

The first few results Kyle clicked on were of a typical eBay seller's standards. Excellent condition and what he was looking for EXCEPT for one let-down condition that related to something missing, some part of it getting ripped, transportation problems, payment problems and other occurrences of such bad luck that Kyle didn't want. Kyle was down to the final result. As he skimmed down the page and clicked on the item's description name, the page turned blank and began to load up. At that time, Kyle felt he was going to fail – fall at the last possible hurdle and not be able to find exactly what he was looking. He was even already thinking about what other kind of teddy bear he could get instead of the one that matched the description.

But Kyle's doubts soon faded away as the page loaded up and Kyle began reading through item's detailed description. _Yes, so far so good. _He continued reading – a smile beginning to show itself. _That's it, just the last bit. _No problems, no bad conditions, no payment problems, no negative feedback, no item problems whatsoever. _Right, where's the payment but- _He stopped short – noticing something on the tag of the teddy bear in the item's description. As he clicked on the image for a larger view, the image slowly appeared line by line. Kyle's eyes watched as every line of joined pixels suddenly appeared for him to view. Finally, the line where the bear's tag was revealed itself. Kyle was shocked. Could it really be? _JESUS! What are the fucking odds of that happening?!_

Kyle stared into the slightly blurred tag of the teddy bear. Still, he could clearly read what had been written on the tag:

**Sarah's Teddy – DON'T TOUCH.**

Kyle looked back at part of the seller's comment.

**I found this on a park bench when I visited Britain a while back. I've had it for a few years now and decided to sell it since I won't miss it when it's gone. Though there's a bit of writing on the bears' tag. It's in permanent marker so I can't get it off, but apart from that, the teddy bear is in excellent condition.**

_IT'S MINE. _Kyle giddily thought as he scrolled to the top of the page and read the item's main info.

**Buy It Now - $9.99 Item Location – Fort Collins, Colorado, USA**

_Now that's what I call good luck. _Kyle began his big step to paying for the teddy bear – more than happy now that he had found the very teddy bear that Sarah had lost all those years ago. Judging by the photographed image of it, the bear looked as good as new and was one of the cutest things Kyle had ever seen – bearing a typically cute teddy bear's confused look on its face as its dark nose was scrunched upward and its eyes were filled with the shade of hazel that would warm any young child's heart.

-

Although Kenny believed the underground base of Heaven would bear the same resemblance as Hell's underground colony, he soon realised that he was way off the marker. After taking a surprisingly familiar trip through the Angelic Temple – the same Temple he had visited when he first came to Heaven, Kenny found himself being guided by Ageliss through what could only be described as an underground paradise. Kenny continued to walk across the tall black and marble cliffs of the underground caves and looked around in astonishment. Tropical oasis', water springs, architectural fountains and a gigantic flowing waterfall were only minor parts of Heaven's hidden bounty.

"What on Earth is this place? It' so……well……beautiful…ly big."

"It's Heavens little underground paradise." Ageliss replied with a smile on his face.

_You sure do like to undersize these places don't you? _"It's a bit big to be classed as little wouldn't you say?"

"You think this is big – just wait until you get a glimpse of Heaven's open lands from 20,000 feet."

_No thanks, I think I get your point. _"So where exactly are we going?"

"Ah, the very question I was wanting you to ask."

"Well?!" _I'm waiting._

"Well let's just say you've been there before. Except, that you were sleeping when we took you here."

"Sleeping? I wasn't sleeping at all when you-" Suddenly, it hit him. The penny dropped and he finally realised where they were going. _WOAH, I'm gunna see what that thing looks like._

-

In Fort Collins, Colorado, the seller of the very Teddy Bear Kyle had just bought sat in his computer chair – head tilted, mouth open and leaning heavily on the side of the chair's leather material. But the leather chair had been dyed with a reddish brown tone – just around the area where a hole had just been created. And through the hole was a dark blade that from its tip had been rammed through the skin, muscle, bone and worse, organs of the innocent man. From its bloodied blade tip, the blade ran right through the man's stomach, out of his back, through the hole, past the leather and at its holding point, still grasped, into Xerok's right hand.

"**Too bad this human was deaf – it made his death even easier for me to accomplish."**

Xerok yanked the blade out of his victim's body hole. The dead man slid into the dark corner of his chair and blood continued to trickle out of his insides. Xerok raised his blade to let the thick crimson-toned blood trickle off the blade and onto the floor's navy blue carpet. Placing his blade firmly back into its carry case across his shoulder, Xerok looked at the visibly bright computer screen. **"Well at least I know Kyle's got no one else to help him. Good thing this guy was the only one who did."**He looked down at his dead victim. **"Shame KYLE had to be the one responsible for this man's death. Oh well, at least it was fun." **Xerok laughed – exiting the man's room and eventually, whole residence as he slowly made his way back to South Park.

-

If opposites attracted one another, Ageliss and Kenny had certainly made themselves out to be two huge magnets. Ageliss looked up at the enormous creature in front of them with a noble and proud smile. Kenny on the other hand gazed in total confusion.

"THIS?!" Kenny asked in confused shock. "This is MOTHER?"

"Yep, it sure is. The very being who we took you into and who looked after you."

_Well it certainly won't win any fucking Miss World that's for sure. _"But...MOTHER...why would you give such a...ummmmm...caring name...to THIS?"

Ageliss smiled again. _If only creature life wasn't this much seperated between us and Earth. _"Don't be scared Kenny."

"Scared? You have no idea - I'm shocked too. I was IN this thing?!"

"Believe me Kenny, it doesn't want to hurt you. The complete opposite as a matter of fact."

_IT? What is it - trans-sexual?_

Kenny certainly had reason to be confused, shocked and even afraid. MOTHER was one hell of a being. A Giant bowl-shaped chamber was home to Heaven's biggest life-form and biological creature. MOTHER was what could only be described as a giant slug-like collection of bodily muscle, slime, flesh, bone and bodily organs. MOTHER's outer flesh was orangey pink in colour and the muscle seemed to flow around constantly from underneath. The creature gave an unusually comforting wave of warm body-heat and the sounds it made were of a low-toned monstrous frequency.

Kenny's body froze into shock again - shock this time of another sort. "Am...am I hearing voices in my head?...I am, I'm hearing SOMEONE talking to me."

Ageliss smiled again. _I wonder what it wants. _"It seems it's talking to you."

"What, THAT? That's talking to me?"

"Yeh, because you're partly angellic now, it can communicate to you in your mind. Just like us, we can telepathically communicate to you from within your mind."

Kenny began to listen to this new strange motherly voice. _Come...here..._"Come here? Why?" Again, the voice spoke. _You...will...understand...young...Kenny. _"I'll understand? Understand what?"

As if some scientific film cliff-hanging sequence, the creature's opening front began to open outwards. An area of muscle, tissue and flesh split into four parts on the front of the creature and what looked like a fleshy path came out of the creature's mouth. _Ewwwww, that's totally gross. _"It doesn't expect me to go in there does she...I mean it?!"

"I understand that this makes you feel uneasy Kenny. But relax, this thing is in now way gunna hurt you. Trust me, I swear on my spirit that MOTHER is here to look ater you."

"Why am I getting the uneasy feeling that I want to believe you?" Kenny replied - his gaze stuck to the gooey opening of MOTHER.

"Because I believe you know I'm telling the truth."

Kenny looked at Ageliss with an uneasy look again. "Oh...alright. But this THING better not have any spiders or icky insects like that. God, I hate them."

"Don't worry. Just relax and enter. The rest will become clear."

_Yeh, somehow I'll UNDERSTAND. _Kenny rolled his eyes. "OK, here goes." Kenny made his first nervous steps forward. He looked back. Emptiness. _Ageliss has diappeared...again. So, it's just me and MOTHER in 'ere. _As he walked up to the last bit of solid ground, he looked down at what would be the first step onto the oozing fleshy surface of what appeared to be MOTHER's tounge. _God, am I an idiot doing this or what. _It wasn't the fact that he was entering this creature that made him feel embarrassed, but what he was now doing made him blush red slightly. Kenny knew plenty of respectful house rules for any situation. _Always take off your shoes when you go into someone's house. OH COME ON, this isn't a friggin' house Kenny - get a grip of yourself. _Still, Kenny wanted to show SOME respect - even if it was to some multi kilo-ton weighing slimy creature. Kenny knelt down and removed his shoes - placing them by the floor's cliff side just as the floor took a massive 50 foot drop into the room's bowl-shaped abyss. Barefoot and still wearing his parka jacket and brown trouser pants, he made his first step onto the soft flesh. It indeed felt like a giant tounge - liquid oozing out of the pressured surface like a sponge. _Ewwww, what is this thing got in it its...well...TOUNGE THING?_

After a minute of slowly and carefully tip-toeing his way to the opening, Kenny entered - looking to his sides to take in the biological scale of the inards of MOTHER. Suddenly, the opening closes hut. The flesh receeded back and united once more - becoming part of the flowig flesh again and completely locking Kenny inside. _What's it planning on doing with me? _Kenny's body started to twitch in fear slightly - looking to his left and right with a nervy face. He pulled the drawstrings on his hood slightly. _Relax...I...am...not...going...to...hurt...you._

"Then why are you making me feel scared?"

_Please...don't...be...scared...Just...relax...You...may...feel...a...bit...dizzy._

"Huh?"

But before Kenny could ponder at MOTHER's apparent calm and caring comments, Kenny's sight completely went dark. It was less of a black darkness and more of a red darkness - a loving darkness...a warm darkness. Kenny started to feel a comforting buzz around him. "Oh...I see. So that's why I'm feeling realy good right now?" Kenny echoed into the buldging mass of MOTHER's insides. He had suddenly vanished - MOTHER had done something TO...or WITH him. But what? Kenny didn't care - the smile on his face showed how he felt. His eyes were closed and he knew MOTHER was doing something to him that he loved. _No wonder I feel so good right now._


	37. Relaxation Of The 3rd Kind

**Chapter 30 - Relaxation of the 3rd Kind**

Wet. Warm. Relaxed. The three feelings Kenny had felt were still continuing. It must have been 4 or even 5 hours since his vision and bodily feelings went slightly numb with warmth. His heavy eyes began to unload their seemingly lead-weighing pressure and finally began to open. Kenny half-opened his eyes to see he wasn't standing anymore - he was lying down, as if he were sitting up against something. His vision was still slightly blurry so he couldn't clearly picture the scale of his new surroundings. Kenny went to rub his eyes but he then realised his hands and even his whole arms were wet and even slimey. The exitting of some body of liquid made his arms drop in temperature slightly. _What the hell? Am I in some sort of bath?! _Brushing what dripping liquid was left on his hands, he rubbed his eyes to get rid of the bluriness. _JESUS CHRIST! What IS this stuff._

It then became clear as crystal. Kenny's first idea of him sitting in a bath were half-right. He was sitting in a bath of sorts...just not of the water-based and even Earthly type. Kenny was lying naked in a body of yellow and orange slime-like liquid. Thick as custard and as warm as hot tap water, the liquid seemed to give off a warm, relaxing and comfortable feel to it. Kenny could feel his body take a huge relief of relaxment as his muscles seemed to express feeling of delight and comfort. The confusion and shock in his mind was obliterated by the liquid's comfortable feel and Kenny's smile came back to him. _OH GOD...that feels so goddam good! _Kenny slowly slipped his body deep into the liquid. It was now up to his chin yet the rest of his body bizzarly remanied within and underneath. The such mass of liquid gave the feeling that this was some huge body of liquid. Kenny looked around him to analyse his surroundings further. The body of liquid he was lying in was within a bathtub-shaped hole. However, this bathtub of sorts was made of biomass - red, pink and dark orange soft fleshy material that when Kenny touched a part of it, it pressed in and oozed out more of the same liquid. _Cool... _Kenny wasn't execting to say that. _Wait a minute, did I just say that was 'cool'?_

A factor of tiredness came back. Kenny tried to stretch his arms upward as he yawned, but as soon as his elbows touched the open surface, his arms were yanked back. _What the...? _The forcing pull was something Kenny could certainly feel. Confused by this and taking a huge moment of faith in what he was about to do, Kenny shut his mouth and scrunched it inward slightly. Dunking his head into the liquid, the first thing Kenny saw was a marble-like mixture of reds, oranges and yellows in this thick slime-like liquid he found himself in. Unlike water, the liquid didn't get to Kenny's eyes. He among other kids knew that liquids such as salt water, clear water and the worst, chlorine water completely stung anyone's eyes. But this time, the liquid seemed to soothe Kenny's eyes - slowly and smoothly passing against it and brushing it as if it were nothing more than just warmth. _Right, where's my arms? _It was slighty hard to see underneath the surface - blurred outlines and pixellated-like figures of his body. Realising he could just feel his way, Kenny followed the warm flow of blood down his arms. Once again, the tugging feel came back. Kenny tried to move his right arm so that he could turn his left arm over, but the same thing that tugged his arms before, remained. _Whatever it is, it certainly doesn't want to let go of my arms._ Kenny moved his head toward his left arm - thankfully, his head wasn't dragged back too. Tilting his head slightly, he turned his vision to the side of his arm - in this case, the bottom section of his left arm.

And as expected, Kenny's face was frozen in shock. Amidst this warmth of the liquid, there was a slight icy shock on Kenny's face. _What the hell IS THIS?! _Keny's stare never left it. He quickly realised that it was this that was tugging his arms back. Kenny had what looked like white greyish transparent cords attached to his arms - one attached right in the middle of his arms' underside and one directly inserted into his wrist. _I can't believe I never felt this. _The cords and tubes seemed to be flowing some sort of red blood-like liquid into Kenny's body - its thick flow continuously but slowly making its way into his body. Kenny looked at his right arm - same thing. Two cords, one on the underside and one in his wrist - all of which were flowing some kind of red liquid into his body. _It's like being back at the hospital...again. _His vision turned straight again. He looked forward down to the rest of his body. _Jesus - how many of these things are there? _It became clear again - Kenny was covered in these greyish tubes and cords. Arms, chest, legs, feet, sides - everywhere. But there was one area Kenny was more than interested to find out about. _No...not that...that'd just be gay. _He stared through the liquid at the centre of his belly - his naval area and as he expected, there was a cord attached to that as well. Only that one seemed to be quasi-solid - jelly-like and flowing to and fro within the liquid. _Is this what being inside a womb is like? Ha, It's like I'm fucking being born again or sumin._ Kenny moved his arms and hands towards his back. He had enough room and space to move them behind him - there was no tug from the cords. Kenny felt an even larger vein-covered cord attached to his back this time round. Kenny looked straight and moved his hands up the cord - trying to picture what THIS one looked like. The liquid felt like it was flowing outwards rather than inwards in this cord. Eventually, the cord hit one of the fleshy walls Kenny was surrounded in.

_Alright, what the hell is this thing doing to me._

Suddenly, a familar voice began to make its way into Kenny's mind.

_Ahhhh...I...see...you're...awake...Kenny._

"Dam right. What the hell's going on here. How'd I get in this THING and what exactly is it or even, are you, doing to me?!"

Kenny heard the being laugh softly in his head. _Do...not...worry...I...am...merely...cleansing...and...relaxing...your body._

"Cleansing and relaxing? As in stucking a load of goddam tubes and cords in me and putting some kind of liquid stuff in me?"

_In...your...terms...yes...But...in...my...terms...I...am...refreshing...your...body...with...energy._

"What?" Kenny's voice sounded more softer.

_Now...that...you...are...genetically...angellic...like...me...I...can...take...care...of...you...and...supply...you...with...the...energy...you...need._

"You mean...like..." Kenny couldn't even say it, the fact was too strong to accept for his single human mind. "...like...a...mother."

_...Yes...Kenny...like...a...MOTHER...figure..._

Kenny closed his eyes and smiled. "I thought I'd never get used to all this unearthly supernatural stuff. But now, I think I just have." Kenny slowly slid back down and relaxed himself again - the slimey yellow and orange liquid overlapping with the bottom roots of his blond hair.

-

"Kyle Broflovski?" A man spoke at the door.

"Yeh...that's me." Kyle replied - smile showing as he held the door open by the frame.

"Sign here please."

Kyle kindly took the en from the postman's hand and signed the sheet. "Thanks kid, there you go."

"Thanks a lot. Goodbye."

As the postman began to turn back around, Kyle slowly closed the frontdoor and walked into the living room - a huge smile beaming on his face as he held the bubble-wrapped package up. Carefully placing the box on the room's floor and slowly tearing away at the packaging, Kyle finally had his sight on the physical view of Sarah's birthday present...her much-loved teddy bear. _Right, I need the wrapping paper, some scissor and some tape._

-

As Ageliss stood by the bowl-shaped room's ciffside, he finally saw Kenny walking across the fleshy tounge of MOTHER and back onto the cold stone surface of the room. Kenny took some time to let his eyes get affixed to the room;s brightnes - having spent over 6 Heaven hours inside MOTHER. Fully dressed again in his orange parka jacket and brown trouser pants, Kenny made his way to where his shoes still sat and placed them back on.

"So...did MOTHER take care of you in there?"

Kenny was about to rely sarcastically and shocked. But surprisingly, his voice remained soft and kind. "Yeh, I felt so warm and comfortable in there."

_He's changed. I guess he's beginning to understand the reality of this whole place. _"Well I'm really pleased with that. Seems MOTHER did exactly what she intended to do."

"Yeh, God that place is so nice, it's unbelievable." Had Kenny really changed this much? No longer was he questioniung and expressing shocks and surprises in his voice. It would seem Kenny had finally got accustomed to the existence of Heaven and Hell as Earth's brotherly dimensions.

But something still remained in Kenny's mind. Just as Ageliss reahced for the door to exit the room, Kenny called him with his voice.

"Ageliss...wait...I need to ask you something." Kenny loked down at th floor as if he was worried.

"Sure Kenny, what?" _Oh no, something troubling him. I hope MOTHER didn't tell him anything we don't want him to know yet._

"Well...it's just..."

Ageliss braced himself. He readied his log explanation of why Kenny and even his own friends were so important to them. But instead, Kenny expressed a different feeling.

"Ageliss...all of this stuff. Heaven, Hell and well...everything, it's all a reality, right? I mean, it's all as real and physical as Earth is, isn't it?"

Ageliss smiled. _So it's that that's making him look uneasy. _He placed his arm around Kenny's shoulder. Kenny looked up at him. "Kenny, from the bottom of my heart, I guarantee that everything you see...is real and is not meant to scare you in any possible way. They may be split apart from each other in their own dimensions, but they're all as real as your home planet is. I know how you feel; it's all new and very shocking and even scary to you, but it's nothing to be afriad of." Ageliss took a deep breath, as if ready to give a speech. "There is one thing I was going to tell you before, but I thought you wouldn't believe it."

"What is it?"

Ageliss breathed in again - his lungs stretching outwards as much as they possible could. "Long ago when the Earth was born, created in your terms, we Angellic and Demonic beings had the chance to create life-forms and beings that originate from our two dimensions. We decided not to in the fear that humans would not understand their existence and would live in fear of it. However we did allow the humans of Earth to gain the ability to imagine their exitence even if it meant they did not know they existed. There must be outcomes of such imagination on Earth Kenny. Sci-fi films, TV programmes, books, religious beliefs - they're all based on the beliefs of supernatural entities and un-Earthly creatures."

"So does that mean...that's where the whole idea of God and Satan originates?"

"Yes...human-made ideas of supernatural un-earthly beings, hence, the creation of religion, order and belief on your planet. Pretty impressive, right?"

"But wait a minute, I've seen BOTH God AND Satan. How can you say that they're just imaginations of what humans believe?"

"Because by then we'd already created them."

"What?"

"Like I said, we allowed humans to imagine these beings. It was only a matter of time before humans would eventually envision these supernatural beings and creatures as those that already exist. God and Satan DO actually exist - humans just haven't realised that yet until..."

"...They die?"

Ageliss nodded. "Hence, the reason why there are two Heavens and two Hells - the real ones you now see and the ones that you used to believe were true...when in fact, they're false."

"But why? Why make something up?"

"If humans are not allowed to exist on Earth among the creatures and beings that really exists in these dimensions, then what makes us think that in death, they will feel any better in the after-life? Why send them here when you can just allow them to rest in peace in the FAKE Heaven - a Heaven that existed all along that now, is based on human feelings, beliefs and better yet - the holy words of religion - the Bible."

"Yes...YES...I get it now. You knew humans would feel uncomfortable in the same existence as creatures like MOTHER, so you created two other dimensions that were based off human beliefs in religion AND in human thoughts."

"Exactly, Kenny. EXACTLY. But best yet, we made the right decision in allowing humans to envision this. It was only a matter of time before they envisioned what already existed."

Kenny smiled. He had finally realised the full explanation of Earth, Heaven and Hell. The angellic and demonic beings weren't stopping or preventing humans from understanding the REAL Heaven and Hell, they were instead, providing for them two other forms of Heaven and Hell that they believed humans would be more accustomed to and better yet, would be more understandable when basing it on what religion and human thoughts say. _I get it now. For example, someone coud have held a picture of a cake and told someone else what it was and how good it tasted. Then, he or she could have asked that other person to pick between the cake or something else that hid behind curtain 2 - yet they didn't know what that curtain thing was. Obviously, they would choose the cake because they know what it is and how good it is - they're more accustomed to it and know much more about it._

"I'm so glad you understand all this Kenny. In the beginning, we knew not to scare you or shock you to the degree that you would be left puzzled. And we never intended to do anything you'd feel uncomfortable with - it was just a matter of patience. We knew you'd finally understand Kenny - that's why we feel welcomed that you're now one of us."

Kenny smiled again. _Yeh, I do. I do understand. _The three words looped in his head. _Angellic. Demonic. Human...Angellic. Demonic. Human...I am an angel. I am a demon. And I am human. I've become one of them. _"Yes, it's all become clear to me. Thanks Ageliss - I couldn't possibly express just how happy I am at understanding all this."

"I knew you'd eventually understand." _I just wish he knew just HOW MUCH we needed him to understand. If only the other three knew all this too. _"Well, I got word from CADACC H.Q. that your SEDET device has been fully updated and is ready to be used again. Let's go."

"Right, got'cha Ageliss."

Ageliss turned the handle on the stone door and made his way out. As Kenny began to exit the room, he looked back at MOTHER - the creature's warm stare completely focused on him.

_Any...time...you...need...me...Kenny...I'll...always...be...here._

Kenny smiled again. "Thanks MOTHER, I'll always remember that." Fianlly, Kenny lifted up the hood on his jacket and fastened it up. Walking out of the room, he slowly closed the stone door behind him and followed Ageliss down the stone slope in the underground Heaven caves.


	38. Looking At How Upset He Is

**Chapter 31 - Looking At How Upset He Is**

1 hour? 2 hours? 3 hours? It had been quite a while since Stan had not been out of his bedroom. He had spent the whole of Saturday Morning in tears - crying his sweet little heart out at the loss of his best friend Kyle. You'd think he were crying because Kyle was dead, but crying because Kyle WASN'T his friend anymore just showed how much a loss this felt to Stan. The pillows of Stan's bed were wet and moist with tears now. Stan had his face pressed against them - eyes blacked out and bursting with tears. His voice showed the same emotion. Stan's familar voice was there, but it was used for a much more upsetting tone - a wave of broken emotions and feelings. The curtains were drawn across - the room was darkened. Light felt more like an enemy than a friend at ths moment in time for Stan. The factor of the dark dominated his bedroom.

Stan's mother Sharon knocked on the door and walked in. "Stan...Stan. I made you some lunch downstairs, if you want it."

Stan's voice still had the pain of loss in it. "No thanks mom. I'm not hungry."

His mother looked worried. "Stan...I know you're upset about losing Kyle as your friend."

"You know? You don't know mom! Kyle was my best f-f-friend. I never thought I'd lose him so soon. Oh God, I feel so heart-broken." Stan burst into tears again. Sharon sat next to her upset son on his bed and patted him on the back like any caring mother would. "I'm sure he'll forgive you for whatever you did, Stan. Just give him some time. And remember, if there's anything that you want to talk about, I'll always be here Stan." Sharon stood back up and made her way towards he door - exitted the room as she did so.

Stan moved his face away from the blackness and looked to his bed-side table. Again, Stan picked up another framed picture of him and Kyle - arms around each other's shoulders and smiling. Stan's lips went weak and he burst into tears again - rolling onto his side and facing the near wall next to his bed.

A few feet above on the rooftop, Xerok had his fingertip-based microphone headset activated. As he pressed his fingers against the roof's tiles and listened in to Stan's crying, a cold heartless smile showed itself again. **_Perfect, everything is going according to plan. The chess pieces are making their move and it won't be long before I declare check-mate on them all. Now then, which way's the South Park shopping mall?! _**Taking a huge leap off the roof and down onto the ground, Xerok made his way down the residential street - running as he did so, towards his next target destination.

-

A few houses down the road, Kyle had finally finished wrapping up Sarah's birthday present. The shiny glimmering green and white wrapping sparkled a silvery glow when in movement against the sunshine. Suddenly, the phone in the living room began to ring.

"Hello?"

"Hi Kyle." A familar girl's voice excitingly and kindly began. "I've got a little surprise of my own to offer you."


	39. Four Guys And One Hiding Place

**Chapter 32 - Four Guys And One Hiding Place**

"Why does this shopping centre have to be so bloody confusing?" James spoke - freely ahead of the others as his gaze kept flying around the large size of the mall.

"It's not a shopping centre James, they call it a 'mall' over here, remember?" Josh replied - obviously raising his voice to reach the distance covered by James. "Hey, Andy. I hope you're not gunna go crazy with buying clothes and stuff. Remember why we're here - we're here to buy our presents for Sarah's birthday, OK?"

"Oh don't worry 'bout that Josh. I know why WE ARE here, relax."

"OK, whatever you say." Josh rolled his eyes and smiled. _Right, now where was it that Maxwell said he was going to meet us._

A few stores down the indoor path, Maxwell turned the corner and came into view with the other lads. After a simple little hello and pause, Maxwell began walking with the others.

"So where were you by the way? Yer' didn't say anything about going out this morning?"

"Oh, well ummm, I had some business to take care of."

Josh laughed. "Business? What kind of BUSINESS would that be?"

"Oh y'know, the usual stuff." Maxwell looked to his right - hoping Josh had finally acceted his reason. Josh gave him a funny smile and finally looked straight again.

"Whatever you say, Maxwell. Whatever you say."

Maxwell focused his gaze up ahead at James - who had made his way over to the mall's large fountain. James was right next to the fountain's stone statue of a woman. The statue was spitting out a stream of water into the fountain just like the other three adjacent statues were.

"Hey, what's up with James?"

"Oh he's been like this ever since we got here."

"Had too much sugar this morning?"

"Peh, probably." Josh's smile turned to concern when he noticed James climbing up onto the fountain - looking as if he were trying to talk to it. "Oh God, what's he trying to do now?"

A few metres forward, James looked at the woman statue's stone face from the side - hanging onto the fountain's outside rail and gazing across to her face. "Hey, yer' fucking sexy bitch! Nice little stream yer' got comin' out 'ere." James laughed at his won idiocy. He never failed to make anyone else laugh, but making himself laugh was a sign that he was doing something too stupid. James gave the statue a flirting look. "Hey...I bet you wish you were pissing water SOMEWHERE ELSE on yer'." He laughed again. James looked to his left and to his right. No one around was watching. "Well, y'know what they say...if yer' thirsty, take a fucking drink!" James pressed his lips against the statue where the water came out and held it there for a few seconds.

"JAMES!" A voice shouted from behind. James pulled back in surprise and got his shirt collar soaked. He turned back around to see Josh and the ither to standing by the fountain's side looking at him with strange looks. "What the bloody hell do you think you're doing?"

"What's it look like I'm doing? I'm having a fucking drink."

"James, there's plenty of places to BUY a drink from. Yer' can't just drink from..." He paused - knowing whether he had the bottle to say it. "...a woman statue's mouth."

"Ah, COME ON. It's free."

"I don't care. Get down from there - yer' can buy a drink from one of these stores."

James grunted and stood back on the fountain's stone perimeter. He gazed down at a sea of sparkling circles at the bottom of the fountain. He definately knew what these were. _CHA-CHING. _Kneeling down and placing his hands against the edge, he looked over the side and into the shallow depth of the water. Rolling up his right sleeve, he dunked his hand in the water and scooped up a handful of coins.

"JAMES, FOR GOD'S SAKE." Josh shouted again.

"I'm only nicking a few dollars, no one's gunna know."

"James, people throw coins in that fountain to make wishes." Maxwell replied - walking over to the fountain's railing and looking down at James.

"Wishes? You mean to have ponies, be race car drivers, be rich and hope someone they know dies. Yeh, I highly doubt those will ever come true."

"Just put the coins back James."

James grunted again. "Oh, alright."

As Josh, Maxwell and Andy continued walking past the fountain and up the street of stores, James looked over his shoulder and made a quick snatch for coins again. _YOINK! _Shaking off the last few drops of water, he opened his hand. _$1.34, BINGO! Enough for a can of coke._

Jumping back over the railing and onto the mall's floor, he caught up with the other three.

-

Back in Heaven, Kenny and Ageliss stood in one of CADACC's main research rooms. The Angellic scientists were just handing over the SEDET device back over into Keny's hand. "There you go Kenny, the device has been fully updated."

"Great, so...what exactly did you update it with again?"

"We just added some futher advanced protocols and sensor peripherals - ones that will be able to track Xerok down to an even precise degree of detail."

"But will they be able to...y'know...sense him when he's using that trick of his - the one your director told me about?"

"Yes, it was good that we received some new protocols and programs for the device from the research team."

"Received?"

"Yes, they designed all the programs and protocols. Well..."

"Well what?" Kenny knew the scientist had something else on his mind.

"Not all our programs were designed. We received an external protocol from the CADACC Research team of Hell. It was the one we were having trouble in programming. But thankfully, hey managed to accomplish creating it."

"Good, so what now?"

"There's nothing else needed from you here for the time being Kenny." Ageliss added. "I guess we can retrn back to Earth. It may give you the right opportunity to test out the device - see how well it works and such."

"Nice! Alright, let's go - I haven't had any (Earth) food in a long while - I'm starving."

-

Back at the mall, the four guys were browsing the endless aisles of an everything-based store - desperately searching for that one unique item they thought would make a nice birthday present for Sarah. But James however, had other methods of shopping. He stood by the jewler's counter near the front of the store talking to the guy there behind the counter.

"So you're telling me that's a proper carat diamond necklace in there?"

"Ummmmm, yes it is. But I think it'd be a bit too expensive for you."

"Peh, yeh right, how much is it?" He gazed over at the corresponding pricetag. _$150?! What is this - the Queen's fucking pawn shop or sumin. _"Ah OK, never mind, I'll look for sumin else."

As the man behind the counter left the post, James looked around him with a suspicious look. He picked out a bent out paper clip from out his trouser pocket and moved towards the lock on the side of the glass box. Placing his body next to the lock to hide the trick. Moving his right gripped hand slowly in front of his enclosed body, he placed the sring of bent out metal into the lock and started picking at it. _Come on you bastard. _The lock was a sturdy one - not as simple as they looked, he thought. But after a forceful push of the metal string, the lock clicked. _YES! _Slowly and carefully lifting up he top glass panel only a few inches, he moved his left hand into the box and picked out the necklace he was looking at. With a careful swipe, James threw it into his pocket, slowly placed the top panel down and locked it again. None saw, none suspected. None knew. Well, that was what James thought. Only 20 metres away by the corner of the store's aisles, Maxwell gazed in stunned shock. _Did he really do what I think he just did? _Before James could turn back around, Maxwell hid himself and slowly walked down the aisle to where Josh was stood - next to the electronics section.

"Josh, Josh!" Maxwell spoke - looking to his left, hoping James didn't see him.

"Yeh, what is it Maxwell?"

"Ummmm, well, I was just wondering, is James feeling alright today?"

Josh smiled. "Of course he is. Apart from acting a bit stupid since we got here at the mall, he's fine. Why?"

"Oh, no reason. Just curious."

Picking up a device form a high shelf and placing it under his shoulder, Josh turned around. "I have to admit, he is acting a bit strange lately. He wasn't like this back home. But since we got here, he's been a bit..."

"Loopy?" Maxwell smiled - trying to make a joke of the situation.

Josh smiled. "Yeh, I guess so. So, you picked your presents?"

"Yep. I'm getting these puzzle books and this electronic sudoku game."

"Crosswords, sudoku, wordsearches and riddles? She's only 10 Maxwell."

"Well she must have found some way of staying young coz' she's bloody smart for 10."

"Yeh, I guess you're right. Come on, let's go meet up with the other two and buy this stuff."

_Sure, let's go see what James just stole. _Maxwell thought with a worried look now on his face.

A few minutes later, the four guys were back together in their group.

"Right, I got her an MP3 player." Josh began. "How about you three?"

"Puzzle and riddle books and stuff."

"These two shirts and a pair of matching short jeans to go with them. Oh God, they look so cute."

"Jeez, how did I know you were going for that kind of gift Andy?"

"Who doesn't?"

James butted in. "Yeh, well I'm gunna get her this whole carrat diamond necklace. Nice huh?"

Maxwell looked uneasy.

"James, how much does that cost."

"Oh not much, the guy at the counter said it was $100 but since I said it was for my sister's birthday, he knocked it down to $75 for me. Wrong I know, but very nice."

"Well as long as you know you're paying that much, then I guess that's fine." Josh replied - stunned at first but accepting James' choice in present. If he wanted to express the scale of his care for Sarah's birthday, then there was no harm in getting it. That's what Josh knew

_Firstly, that necklace was over $100. Secondly, YOU'RE NOT Sarah's brother, I am. And most important of all, thirdly..._Maxwell's thoughts came to an undeserved end as Josh shouted over to him to wak to the cashier till so that they could pay for the items together.

But just as they got there, James spoke again. "Oh God, sorry 'bout this guys, I need to go to the toilet. Won't be a minute."

"OK, whatever James." Josh replied - not noticing James' departure...a departure of which he still carried his stolen item.

James smiled. _Good thing this place doesn't have metal detectors. _Quickly placing he necklace in his pocket so that no one saw his actions, James walked quickly out of the store and made his way down one of the smaller closed off wakways towards the toilets and bathrooms. In the darkened haze of the walkway, James looked around. No one was around neither would there be anyone here within the next few mintes, he thought. "Perfect. Time to leave this pathetic body." James' eyes rolled back and upwards. He started to shake and a few drops of foamed saliva started to come out of his mouth. Out from James' back, a black shadow leaped onto the floor and scurried across the shadowed ground into a darkened corner of the corridor. James stopped shaking and collapsed - leaning his body on the marble wall next to him.

"Hey kid, you alright?" A man stopped by and looked at him. James rubbed his head and uncleared his slightly blurred vision.

"Huh? Oh, yeh...I'm fine." James' voice was much weaker than it was a few minutes later. Tired, confused and slightly dazed. The man continued walking to the men's toilets. James picked himself up and checked himself over. "What the heck? Where am I? Am I in the mall? Oh God, I must be. I better find the other guys - they're probably worried sick about me, I haven't seen them since this morning." As James rushed out back into the mall's main area, the dark black shadow in the corner began to materialize back into its human-like figure.

Finally, after the top tips of the head were finally in shape, the blackened form began to clear away into more detail. The dark being looked down at his right hand - a diamond necklace hanging around his cold grip.

**"Nice, looks as if I've just got a nice little souvineer once this planet's no more. Now then, back into that store." **Like a cunning camoflaged spy, Xerok dematerialized again and swooped up the far corner sof the wall and ceiling out into the main mall area - not getting sensed, not getting noticed, not having one single bit of a problem. And as he glided acoss the ceiling floor, he moved across the ceiling bump and into the store where the four guys were stood.

After purchasing their goods, the guys placed them in the plastic carrier bags and began to walk out of the store - immediately meeting up with James - whom was at this moment, confused. Xerok looked down and listened in to their conversation. Then, with a braced pause, Xerok attacked his next target.

A few metres below on the ground, Maxwell felt a spiky cold chill launch into his back. "Owww, what the?!

"Maxwell, you alright?"

He turned back to Josh with a slow turn. "Yeh, yeh I'm fine."

Suddenly, without warning, Joshs mobile phone started shaking in his pocket, a muffled noise hiding in the thickness of his jean material. Josh icked it out - enjoying the sound of a Guitar solo version of Nokia's famous little jingle. "Hello?"

There was brief silece for a few seconds. The other three guys set their gaze on Josh. "Oh, brilliant. I bet yer' really happy about that...that's good...yeh...OK...well I guess I know we can start looking for stuff for Tuesday night then...OK, you told him about stuff like the time?...You have?!...Great...OK...well I'll see yer' later...OK...bye." Josh placed the phone back in his pocket.

"What was that all about?" Maxwell asked.

"It was Sarah. She just told me her little 'boyfriend' was more than happy to come and he agreed to what me and Sarah proposed."

"Proposed?"

"Oh you'll see. Come on, we've got some more shopping to do."

"More? But we've finished looking for Sarah's presents."

"I know, I mean something else. We need to start looking for camping things."

"Camping? You mean...we're going camping?"

"We four are. Sarah wants the house for herself...and someone else the night before her birthday."

"Oh brill, we're going camping!" James expressed.

"Oh, I never been camping before - this is gunn abe interesting." Andy added - certainly the more interested of the three.

Maxwell stood silent. "How come I wasn't told about this?"

"Well we wanted to keep it a secret...even from you three."

"But I was...planning...something for both Sarah and Kyle on Tuesday night."

"Well I guess you won't have to now. Come on, we got some serious camping shopping to do."

As Josh, James and Andy walked with a positive mood, Maxwell stood in silence again. Finally, he smiled too - walking as well to catch up with the other three.

And in the bussling sound of the mall's inside area, a dark cold voice echoed in the silence of thoughts. **_No problem, I guess that makes it easier for me to deal with my other targets._**


	40. Hiding No More

**Chapter 33 – Hiding No More**

_Heh, I wonder what they actually did to this thing. _Kenny pondered as he gazed at the SEDET device he had hold of. As he lay in the water-filled bathtub on a cold and frosty Saturday night, Kenny scratched the back of his blond hair and continued to confusingly stare at the device. It was lucky that he was even taking a hot bath – hot water was a bit of a hit and miss situation Kenny always found himself in at home, but it seemed luck was shining on him tonight, and for good reason too since the blistering arctic cold outside was as loud as an amplified wind. Not having the luxury of soap or shampoo didn't bother him though – it hadn't bothered him for the whole of his life and even in this situation, he didn't mind.

Suddenly, Kenny lost his grip on the metallic sphere as it jumped out of his hand and headed down into the depths of the liquid. _Oh shit! _Kenny braced himself for a familiar shocking of pain. But the wait seemed to go on for minutes. Kenny moved his arms away from his face and looked down into the wobbly vision of the water. The device – like a mis-hit golf ball remained sitting on the bottom – waiting to be picked out. _That was close. _Breathing easy again, Kenny picked out the sphere and looked at it again. _The thing must be waterproof or sumin._

He was surprised that he hadn't done it already, so without delay, Kenny activated the device on its top button. The device began to float just above Kenny's right hand. His left hand opened and Kenny began to interact with the device with his hand and fingers. First things first, he thought as he instructed the device to open up its sensor program. Like before, the sphere produced a 3-D holographic screen. This time however, the screen was lighter – already programed and selected to detect energy signs and signals in this dimension, Earth. Kenny already knew the device's signals off by-heart. _Blue signals are light-based, red signals are dark-based. _Setting the radius to an increased range, Kenny adjusted the sensors slightly in order to get a clearer detection. The device emitted a few blurry spots and frequency waves. But it wasn't long before the sphere pinged to life and had finished scanning the 1 mile radius. The screen gave off a very bright blue glow. Obviously, Kenny had forgot that there would be a lot of blue signals on the screen. After all, each dot representd a human being or animal within the one mile radius. _Who knew a lot of things existed in South Park. _

As Kenny turned the brightness of the screen down a touch with his commanding fingers, he inspected the screen again. _I better sort all this lot down to a much smaller group. _Kenny entered a formula-based criteri search onto the device's program. It was obvious that the device had scanned, read and displayed too many energy signs for Kenny to look at. Wittling them down would remove major areas of grouped blue dots and lights. However, what wanted to find was the one sole red light dot on the screen – the one that represented Xerok. Inputting a new numeric energy level into the search formula, Kenny activated it. As the screen hummed and buzzed in its search, Kenny tried to predict what kind of result would pop out this time. There would be fewer blue dots, A LOT fewer, that was for sure.

But what if a red dot wouldn't show up? What if Xerok was using that 'ability' of his? Would the SEDET device even be able to pick it up? As the device pinged again to display its resuting detections, Kenny was half-relieved to see the red dot remained on-screen.

However...it was half of the size it originally was. Half and half with something else – the other half being of a different colour – the colour blue. _What the hell? _Kenny certainly wasn't expecting this. A signal emitting 50 percent light-based energy and 50 percent dark-based energy. That was impossible, surely. _Either you're matter, or you're anti-matter – yer' can't be both. _Kenny gave the device a peculiar stare. How could this have happened? Maybe the SEDET device had made a mistake. That's what Kenny presumed.

Resetting the device, inputting the same energy formula in again and executing the command, he was stunned to see that the same result popped up.

A single dot – half of blue light and the other half of red light.

_Unless..._The obvious reasoning of it smacked Kenny on the face. It was clear now, there was only one reason for it. He directed himself into the identification protocol of the program. _If he's using somebody else's body, than this device will identify who's body he's using. _It was genius – the only reason that the single dot was half and half was because the same signal biomass was being shared between two beings – a light-based being and a dark-based being, Xerok. Though he fact at learning the truth at who was under Xerok controlled frightened Kenny slighty, the truth was what he wanted to finally know. As the program went to work in uniquely identifying the two beings, Kenny laned back on the plastic backing of the tub. _Who could he or she be?_ Kenny thought – looking up at the crack-covered wall. _Whoever it is, is one unlucky person. _

The device pinged and Kenny shot his head downward and straight to take a look. The smile on his face sank like a stone. What he saw on-screen were words that he thought would be totally impossible. But now, the impossibility was now impossible itself. It was the truth – a shocking, scary and frightening truth that had Kenny locked in some freeze-frame of drama. The warm comforting water in the tub around him seemed to feel more like icy soul-burning cold water now.

_It can't be...it just...can't be. _If only Kenny could wish that it wasn't, but it was. The truth was staring him right in the face.

-

A half a dozen houses down the street, Maxwell and Sarah were watching TV in the comfort of home – the couch providing for them a comfy, resting place to enjoy a relaxing and hopefully quiet night – even if the loud whistle of snow and wind outside slightly distracted the warm enjoyment of indoors.

"You don't mind, do you?" Sarah suddenly asked – the words finally having enough energy to leave her mind and be spoken.

"Huh...oh, no, not at all." Maxwell replied – knowing exactly what Sarah was talking about.

"So you know?"

"Yeh, Josh told me today while we were shopping."

Sarah knew Maxwell wasn't alright with it. She asked again. "Are you sure you're OK with it?"

"Yes, I've got no problems with it. It's fine!"

"I just thought y'know..."

"What?! No, of course not."

"Good, it's just well...I thought it would be good y'know – the night before my birthday and whatnot. Just as long as you're OK with camping the night out while Kyle stays here Tuesday night with me?"

_Please, just stop talking about it. _"Sarah, it's fine. Now please, can we just watch telly?!"

As Maxwell resumed his attention to the TV screen, Sarah looked at him for a few seconds and eturned her gaze to the TV too. Without moving his head, Maxwell set his gaze again at Sarah. Looking forward again, he smiled.

-

The bathtub definately felt luke warm now – if not cold. Kenny was in shock. The screen illuminated its blue glow as the words continued to flash on-screen. At least Kenny knew who his target was – the target that he had to stop and most painfully, kill, in order to destroy Xerok in the process. The words on-screen stuck in his mind like glue.

**Dark Anti-Matter Being Identification – XEROK**

And as he looked at who the human being was, the pain and fear hit him like a speeding bullet once more.

**Matter Being Identification – MAXWELL HUNTER**


	41. One Target Down

**Chapter 34 – One Target Down**

The snow continued to fall heavily down to the ground. All Josh could see as he pressed against the bottom of the kitchen sink was a wall of blackness covered in a layer of lightning-fast white dots. The wind had picked up again – the noise morphing into a low-pitched howl as it rushed through the air vents of the house structure. Josh's hands had been soaking in hot water for about ten minutes now. Even with gloves on, the cold weather had caused his hands to go numb whilst he was outside. Him, Andy and James had been practicing to construct and set up the two tents they bought earlier that day and the cold had certainly got to all three of them. _Well I guess that's what you get when you spend too much outside in the snow. _Josh wasn't used to this kind of weather at this time of the year – heavy snow in March was unheard of in his sense; he never got this kind of weather in the grungy depths of his old home city of Stoke on Trent.

With his hands finally feeling like they were receiving pumped blood again, Josh looked back on the day. At first, Josh had imagined the day to be just like any other day – normal with a bit of an odd twist here and there. And he certainly got that bang on the target. With James acting dafter than he usually was, Maxwell showing less happier signs of Sarah and her boyfriend (something which still surprised Josh) spending the night together on Tuesday night…alone and this sudden increase in cold, snowy weather. _I wonder if it's always like this during the year. _As Josh smiled at the joking thought of it, he raised his dripping, soaked hands out of the water and grabbed the nearest tea towel. Drying his hands off, Josh walked over to the kitchen opening and peaked a look around the corner into the living room. As he saw the buzzing and illuminated glow of the TV screen's edge, he noticed the presence of only one shadow stretched across the floor. _Heh, that's odd……I wonder where he went. _

Sarah was still watching the TV that night – having changed to the news and weather. The reporter was still going on about the latest weather – something that made Josh feel uneasy.

'Looking ahead to next week…' the weather reporter began. '…it looks like we'll be getting much more snow over the next five days. Good news for all you kids, bad news for anyone getting to work or having to do some very long journeys over the week.'

_Great! _Josh walked into the living room – standing slightly right of the nearest sitting chair and continuing to focus his attention on what the reporter had to say.

'So as we look onto Monday and Tuesday, you can see this stretch of wind and snow we've been getting all the way up from the Arctic is going to continue making its way down into Colorado. An extreme level of low pressure is going to appear by Wednesday evening and that snow is going to continue falling for the remainder of the week afterwards. Top temperatures will be an incredibly low minus two, that's twenty five degrees Fahrenheit.'

Finally, Sarah spotted Josh at the corner of her eye. "You finished then?"

"Yeh……just have to see whether it'll stand up to all this snow and wind and whatnot."

"And if it doesn't?" Sarah smiled – providing a joke for Josh to deliver the punch-line.

"Then it looks like the tent camp will be up to four by tomorrow……and counting until I can find some decent tents to use."

"So you DID hammer the poles into the ground to keep it up didn't you?"

"Of course I did. What do you think I am…an idiot?"

Sarah gave Josh a peculiar look. "Well I don't know about that."

"Ha ha, very funny." Josh rolled his eyes. "By the way, you seen Maxwell at all?"

"Yeh, he's right h-" But as Sarah turned to her left, she stopped short. _Where's he gone?! _"Heh, that's odd. He was here a minute ago."

-

There were no lights on. Whoever had managed to get into his bedroom had caused the room to fall into an oblivious darkness again. He felt precious oxygen slipping away from his breathless grasp. As he tried to fight his way out of the shadow's grasp, the level of oxygen and energy he had left seem to fall exponentially. Cartman looked around his bedroom – trying to find at least something that could help him. But all he saw were checked dark and light blocky outlines of furniture shapes. He didn't even know how to speak if speaking was an appropriate action. Should he be angry? Should he be scared? Should he be THIS fearful for his life? Whoever was holding him back in the dark shadows of his bedroom was certainly not playing or messing around. He knew it was serious.

"Let me go……let me fucking go you asshole!"

"**Now why on Earth would I want to do that?" **The being spoke into Cartman's ear in a cold and slithery tone of voice. The dark being had Cartman grasped by the arms – locking them both together behind his back and placing both his feet either side of Cartman's legs. **_An unmoveable position. _**He thought – watching the pathetic attempt by Cartman to wriggle free from his imprisoning grasp.

"Look, if Kyle set you up to do this, tell him I'm sorry for whatever I've done. Just let me fucking go!" Cartman shouted – growing in fear by the presence of a dark figure behind him.

"**Oh you have no idea about what I intend to do with you……along with your friend Kyle."**

"WHAT?!" The shock was certainly in his voice. "Kyle's not my friend – he's a goddamn Jew." He felt the being tightened his grip. "Look, just take whatever you want. I won't tell anyone – I swear, anything, just take it."

Unaware to Cartman in the pitch black, the dark being raised a cold smile and tilted his head forward. **"So, I can take whatever I want huh?"**

"Yeh, sure. Anything, just take it! PLEASE!"

There was a brief pause of silence for a few seconds. Cartman waited in fear for what the dark being was actually going to do.

"**Very well……you said I can take anything……then I'll help myself to YOU!"**

"What?!" But as Cartman attempted to wonder at the being's reply, he felt a sharp pain inject itself into his back. It was something Cartman had never felt before – sheer physical pain. Cartman wanted to cry out and scream for help, but he felt the energy inside him drain away – sucked back and out from his limbs. His arms, his legs and even his mind – it was as if some sort of vacuum was sucking him completely dry of strength, thoughts and feelings. Only a few centimetres away, the dark being, with one hand grasping Cartman's arms held on tight to a needle-like device with a transparent glass tube. As the device blinked a red light continuously, the glass tube began to fill up with an odd-looking thick liquid – swirls of crimson and black in colour and as thick in mass as blood. But it wasn't blood, it was something else – a certain something Xerok had been waiting to get his hands on for a long time. Finally, the tube reached full and the red light suddenly turned green. The tube enclosed and the needle was yanked back out – dripping with thick red blood that stained the very carpet that it descended onto.

Xerok let go of Cartman slowly – watching in satisfaction as a pale-faced, lifeless Cartman fell to the ground – a small trickle of blood making its way out from the hole in his back. Cartman lay – face pressed hard against the carpet and not moving a single inch. The smile was still on Xerok's face. Finally, he looked back at the device he had in his hand – slowly rotating his head in the darkness of the room. **_PERFECT. _**The tube, full with the odd-looking thick liquid continued to swirl with crimson and black colour. Disconnecting the tube from the device and sealing it completely tight, he opened up an air-tight case he had in his jacket pocket. The case was only the size of a book and the tube was about the size of an actual test-tube. Placing the tube in one of the case's uniquely sized holes – half of the tube now shadowed in the hole, he sealed the case again – little spits of air released from the sides as it sealed shut. Looking down at his victim again, he brought out his digital sphere and activated the main objectives list.

As he inputted an objective-related message, Xerok smirked at the new reality of it – the completion and execution of his first target objective. The words on screen now satisfied and delighted Xerok's cold soul to the point of excellence. He had failed one of his target objectives before, but there was absolutely no doubt about the completion of this one.

**_Mission StatusNew.Entry - TargetNum 3 SUBJECT: ERIC CARTMAN - DEAD_**

Sliding the body underneath the darkness of his victim's bed, Xerok made his way towards the window and opened it – welcoming the sinister chills of the cold weather. His objective was now finally different. **_1 down – 2 to go! _**With a delighted look on his face, Xerok jumped over the window's edge and out into the darkness of the cold night. **_Now all I need to do is group the rest of my targets together – then it will be as easy as shooting fish in a barrel._** Xerok deactivated a device he had locked on his belt and placed it back in his jean pocket. **_Matter-based Particle Cloaker – even that stupid SEDET device that kid has couldn't have detected me with this thing._**


	42. Watching On

**Chapter 35 – Watching On**

Three snow-battered days later and it was Tuesday. The snow had virtually erased any colour left on any of the buildings, structures and playground objects. All that was left was the white reality of lifeless objects. Up to his lower leg in snow, Kenny stood with a gazing look in the direction of the three kids on the other side of the ground – Sarah, Kyle……and Maxwell.

"And so that's what the device said?" Ageliss asked – the warm buzz of his telepathic speech the only thing that was warming Kenny up.

"Yeh…" Kenny replied – making no adjustment to his gaze or even emotion on his hidden face. "……but…I can't believe it's him. I can't believe he's the one who Xerok's……possessing." Even the sound of the word sent a cold chill down his spine.

"Well at least we know who we have to sacrifice in order to destroy Xerok." Divelia replied – sounding more confident than Kenny or Ageliss.

"Are you mad? I'm can't just to kill an innocent human – Maxwell's not the one who's doing all this. Xerok's the one I have to kill – not HIM."

"We know Kenny, we know." Ageliss replied – trying to calm Kenny down. "Xerok knew you'd find it difficult to properly kill him if he was taking control of a human being. But you have no choice Kenny – you either kill Xerok or you don't kill him."

"But I CAN'T kill a kid – it's not fair."

"Who said Xerok was going to play by the rules?!"

Kenny wanted to scream in frustration. This was certainly a dilemma. Should he kill Xerok and thus in the process, kill Maxwell too. Or should he somehow find another way to kill Xerok without hurting Maxwell. But how? If Xerok was using Maxwell now, who said Xerok would expose himself. _He has the upper hand here. _Kenny realised. It was as if Xerok and Kenny were classed in game of emotional poker – Xerok had the better hand but would Kenny be brave enough to bluff his way to victory and kill Xerok with ease? It was certainly a problem Kenny couldn't seem to find an answer to. "There has to be another way? THERE HAS TO BE! I mean, maybe the SEDET device got it wrong."

"That's impossible. The protocols that were used to detect those signals were designed by both our dimension's research teams." Divelia fired back – denying that the device could have been wrong.

"Unless……" Ageliss whispered in the back of Kenny's head.

"Unless what?" Both he and Divelia asked.

"Divelia……did you say that your dimension designed that one last protocol you sent to us?"

"Well……yes and no."

"Yes AND no?"

"We designed it to an extent. But we received the sensor peripherals and calculation algorithms from an EXTERNAL source."

"External?"

"Well…yeh, you guys. You must have sent them, right?" Divelia expected a quick reply, but there was silence. Whatever he was telling them, Ageliss did not like where this was going.

"We never sent you any source data for those protocols Divelia. We were busy designing the ones we were working on."

"So what does that mean?" Kenny hadn't realised it yet. It seemed the penny was still waiting to drop in his mind. But Ageliss and Divelia realised what the problem was. And after a silence of impending magnitude, the two began fading out from inside Kenny's mind.

"Come on, we need to get to Hell right away." Ageliss commanded.

"W-w-w-wait, hold on. Where the heck are you two going?" Kenny seemed to put up some kind of mental barrier. He could feel Ageliss' and Divelia's movement freeze.

"We need to check something over Kenny – something that could have affected your device."

"Affected? What?!"

But there was no answer. Only dark silence. Ageliss and Divelia were gone. Sighing in frustration, Kenny began walking across the snow-covered ground. On a more important topic, Kenny was confused to see that only Stan and Kyle were visible on the ground. _Where the hell is that fat bastard Cartman got to? I haven't seen him at all today. _The ground was seemingly quieter today. Whether the mysterious non-presence of Cartman was a major factor into the silence was still to be seen, but Kenny liked the quietness – it was way better than the usual loud annoyance that he had to put up with every recess.

But what Kenny didn't welcome was the sudden decrease in temperature lately. _Minus three my butt! _Even the thick material of his hooded parka jacket couldn't stop the arctic wind from sending a shivering chill through his body.

-

Thank God for closed-off walls, Kyle and Sarah thought as they sneaked around the corner of the building and into a shadowed area next to the structure's red and yellow brick wall. From here, no one in the recess playground could see them. But it didn't matter – if someone was to see them, they wouldn't be embarrassed. Kyle had finally surrendered to the fact that he was in love and Sarah shared the same feeling. And as they gazed into each other's eyes like little kids in sweet sweet love, they knew that this was a match made in Heaven – maybe not a Christian Heaven, but somewhere they both believed in.

He was only 10, but Kyle felt 16 all of a sudden. _I guess teenagers must do this all the time. _Kyle continued to lovingly stare at Sarah's cute, young face as he seemingly pinned her to the wall like the cheeky little Jew he had become. "I hope you're not hoping you're not planning to anything naughty or cheeky tonight." The cheeky smile illuminating like a warm sunshine.

"Now why would I do that then Mr. Kyle?" Sarah replied – showing the same kiddie cheeky manner.

"I don't know, but I don't believe I know the REAL Sarah Hunter yet."

"Ooooooo, is that a sign of desperation there?"

They both giggled. "I guess you don't know ME much too."

"Oh dam, and I thought I had you all figured out." Sarah giggled while Kyle smiled back. "Well I guess there's more to both of us than meets the eye, huh?"

"Yep, that's true."

And with the mood exactly right, they kissed again. Whatever had happened to Kyle in the past few days, it was certainly something of a loving nature. He had never been this happy before and he knew that this was more than just a gift in life. _A wish that's been answered…in human form. _

From the lightened corner edge of the building, Maxwell Hunter watched on – a quarter of his body peaking around while his head stuck like a sentry camera watching on. But on the other corner – the more lightened and brighter edge of the structure, Stan stood like a frozen zombie watching in blank emotion as his FORMER best friend showed true signs of happiness and delight – an emotion Stan wished he still had. He didn't care that he wasn't hiding around the corner – the cold wind felt like it was consuming him from both around and within. His face, as pale as milk, was a picture of shock, confusion and upset.

And within the blustery snow-filled wind of the building's side, in-between the emotionally different presence of the four kids, Stan, Maxwell, Kyle & Sarah, a dark voice echoed silently and blindly through the sharp coldness of the air. **_EVERYTHING IS SET!_**

-

Tuesday afternoon. Another boring day of school was over and done with. However, there was one (or should we say two) individuals who found much more happiness and delight in the day today at school. Kyle couldn't keep in a constant motion as he and Kenny walked together back to their homes from school. No Stan, No Cartman – something was obviously up, and Kenny knew. He looked to his left at his seemingly giddy and delighted Jewish friend. It didn't take Kenny long to realise the smile and squinted eyes on Kyle's face showed positive signs in his emotions. As for Kyle, he felt like a musical jukebox at the moment – humming and singing to himself lines of famous romance songs. _Love is in the air…la la la la la la. LOVE IS IN THE AIIIIIIIR…la la la la la la_.

"I never knew how beautiful the sky could be at times." Kyle spoke – the delight obvious in his voice.

"Ummmm, yeh, sure. Hey Kyle, you haven't seen Cartman at all today have you?"

"Who, Cartman? No, I don't think so – he wasn't in class. Who cares, any day without him around is a gift – a MASSIVE gift."

"So you haven't seen him AT ALL?"

"Nope and hopefully I won't for some time……well at least for a few more days."

"Right…" _This doesn't sound good. _"Sorry 'bout this Kyle, but I gotta go do sumin – I left my errrrrr…watch…at school. Hope you don't mind walking on yer' own."

"No sure whatever." Kyle still continued to stare up at the blue sky above him – not noticing the departure as Kenny as the hooded blond-haired kid began to jog down the opposite direction of the road.

-

In the Mid-Balance between the dimensions of Heaven and Hell, Ageliss and Divelia appeared from out of a stretched spherical portal into the infinite white-coloured land.

"Alright…" Ageliss began – his thoughts rushing a mile a minute. "I'll wait here. Divelia, you go to Hell's CADACC centre and talk to one of the research team members there – find out about that last protocol, we need to know as much as we possibly can."

"Got'cha. But, are you sure about this?"

"It's the only possible reason. If what we fear is true, we could be in a much more difficult situation."

"I understand, I'm on it." Activating a glowing red portal in the nearby empty space, Divelia sprinted into the red light – the portal disappearing, leaving Ageliss by himself in a blank and empty white land of polygonic and isometric shapes in the surrounding infinite landscape of the Mid-Balance.

-

_Finally! _As Kenny tried to recuperate the oxygen he had used to sprint down the road, he looked up at Cartman's house. There was an un-nervy silence around the place as the snow and wind continued to descend. "Hello?!" Kenny shouted. There was no reply. "Cartman, you up there?!" He shouted again – looking up at the lone window on the top floor.

Without any other possible choices, Kenny looked to his left and right and then behind him. Focusing deeply, the shoulder areas of his jacket tore away as his brightly white and strong angelic wings sprung out once more. Flapping them slowly, Kenny began ascending – up and up against the house wall with his hands carefully brushing up against the vertical surface.

Finally, he had reached the top level. There was a glum, shadowed darkness to the room – almost chilling in a way. As Kenny grasped and lifted up the window so he could step in, he could feel the uncomfortable blackness start to escape from this isolated room – like it had been waiting to break free for some reason. Shutting the window again, Kenny looked around the room. "Hello? Anyone in here?" Realising the whole house had an uneasy silence to it; Kenny began searching he edges of the room and the top level of the house. _Where the hell could he be?! _

But as Kenny finally walked back into Cartman's bedroom, he felt his right foot step in a pool of something. His body froze as if he expected what it was. As he gazed down in cold shock and followed the trailing crimson-coloured path that moved from the pool Kenny found himself standing in, to the shadowed region of the underneath of Cartman's bed, Kenny slowly walked over and knelt down with extreme caution. "C-C-C-Cartman?" It was more than just the cold weather that had got to Kenny. He hoped he wouldn't find what he expected was underneath the bed, but his heart had a strong feeling of what there would be. As expected, Kenny's knelt position allowed his gaze to go right into the bed's underneath blackened area. His face went pale and his body felt weak all of a sudden. Eyes widened and mouth open as far as it could possibly go, Kenny found himself staring at a lifeless body – scrunched and forced back onto the darkened wall underneath the shadowed bed. Whether it was a scream or a very expressive thought, the amplitude of the voice was apparent. _JESUS CHRIST! CARTMAN!!!_


	43. A Big Mistake

**Chapter 36 – A Big Mistake**

If it wasn't the silence that bored the researcher, then it was certainly the hazy humming of a dozen surrounding computers and devices. Like always, the demonic being had found himself pulling the longest straw out of a possibility of 8 straws and thus, had so unfairly committed himself to staying behind and finishing off the rest of the minor work and data analysis that the rest of his research team hadn't finished. It annoyed him greatly that he somehow was always the one that pulled out the longest straw. While they were all out enjoying themselves within the bussling enjoyment of Hell's colony city, he was stuck inside the dimly lit chambers of CADACC – forced to do their work plus his own. Eyes half open and rolling the mouse control lazilly across, the researcher continued his seemingly boring work times 8.

_Man, this place has been like a mad house lately. _Ever since that blond-haired kid had come to terms to what Heaven and Hell were realy like, both the CADACC centres of Hell and Heaven were running riot with commands, objectives and instructions. It had been the busiest that the researcher had found himself in. But one thing still puzzled him though. _Why are they still maintaining all this as a secret? _He pondered – blinded by the white flash of computer programs. _I mean, that McCormick kid's the only one who can stop Xerok – the least we could do is explain why we needed those other humans. _But the thought of all this had made him remember a past moment in his research job.

It was exactly 4 to 5 Earth years ago and the researcher was discovering his first day as part of the research team at one of the biggest and most powerful organisations ro exist in any dimension. _No wonder, they have all the letters in capitals. _He was ony young then – about 19 demonic years old and he still was coming to terms with the magnitude of Hell's advanced technology. It was the very same day that Hell & Heaven had united in power to work on and complete an important mission. It was the first time in centuries that the dimensions of Heaven and Hell had even spoken to each other, let alone work amongst one another. _I wonder if those two were of any importance then as they are now. _The researcher had discovered that Heaven's main representative, Ageliss had been successful in retrieving and bringing two small young humans back to Heaven. The humans were completely unaware of anything. _I wonder what it feels like to be knocked out cold so much that you just fall asleep like that. _

As soon as bothd imensions had confirmed they had retrieved the right humans, they began work on them. _I still didn't understand why we were in it – after all, the Angellic beings were the only ones who needed them, not us. _During their presence in Heaven, both humans were infused and transfected with angellic blood and DNA. _Just like that McCormick kid and the other one that got brought to Heaven. _And just like that, they were whisked back to their homes back on Earth – completely unaware and blinded by what had just happened around them, and more importantly, what had happened to them.

The researcher didn't like all this secrecry and lying – he wished the director of both this adminastration and Heaven's would allow the McCormick kid to know the real truth, yet, he couldn't. _Why not? We're supposed to be honest beings and yet we show signs of deception. We're not like that, I know we're not like that. _Sighing at the truth of the matter, the researcher continued his work – much to his loathing.

But the quietness of the computer lab soon came to an unexpected halt as Divelia rushed in – slamming the furthest double doors apart and walking immediately over to the only researcher in the dark room.

"You're a researcher, correct?" Divelia demanded – time something Divelia was obviously signifying as short.

"Ummmm, yeh, I am."

"I need you to do a quick favour for me."

"Yeh of course, what exactly do you need." _Please anything to drive me away from this boring rubbish in front of me._

"Could you check where the last segment of program code came from that we used in creating the last protocol that was installed into Kenny McCormick's SEDET device?"

"Huh, why?"

"Please, just do it. I need to check something."

Giving Divelia an odd look, the researcher rotated his chair around again and started tapping away at the computer's keyboard – a click or two here and there as he rushed to bring out the program code. "OK, here it is."

"Now then, did you help write this aong with the rest of the team?"

"Well, no. We received this from Heaven's research team. I guess they must have wanted us to verify the code's functionality for some reason."

_I don't think that came from Heaven. _"Alright, can you bring up the file transfer inbox and try to analyse the electronic address of where it came from."

"Why, we already know it came from Heaven."

"I don't think this came from Heaven."

"W-what do you mean?"

"Just find the address and I'll show you."

Rotating again, the researcher typed away once more. As the program loaded up and the inbox refreshed its memory to how much blockage of mail it had in its system, the researcher browsed through the list. _Ah, here it is._ Opening the file details and analysing the encrypted address code, he rotated his chair around as the system began its analysis of the numeric address.

"So what's this all about then? That thing'll take about a minute to analyse the address code."

Sighing and opening is eyes again, Divelia looked at the reseracher with seriousness on his face. "Both I and Ageliss believe the SEDET device had got a false protocol in it."

"False?! What do you mean?"

"I think that code we received is wrong – I think we just uploaded the device with a non-functioning protocol."

"What, no no no no. That's ridiculous – why would Heaven send us a false piece of code, knowing we would use it to create the last protocol."

"What if Heaven wasn't where we received it from. What if we received this file...from another source?"

"Oh come on Divelia, who would have possibly have been able to-" But then suddenly, the researcher was macked right on the face with the shocking possibility of the truth. _My God, it can't be! _The computer pinged with success and the researcher rotated around – Divelia looking over his shoulder. As the screen went white for a moment to display the result, both Divelia and the researcher were in deep thought about what kind of outcome would be displayed. Finally, the screen went clear again.

**25-4-9-13 15-9-3-15 21-15-2-7 9-20-5-19**

Now they even more confused into what they now saw.

"Well, that's got me. I haven't a single idea on what that could be." Divelia spoke – obviously baffled by this 16-number code.

"Heaven-based addresses are 16 numbers long Divelia, everyone knows that."

"I don't know, it just doesn't look right for some odd reason. It's as if...as if...as if there's something hiding inside that."

"Hidden inside it? Divelia, it's an address – a representation of the sender's location, it has nothing hidden in it or on it, it's just a numeric code."

"Perhaps. But what if it's a numeric code that represents something else."

"But what could it represent. Like I said, it's an address. Apart from the sender's location, it doesn't represent anything else."

"How do we know that? You're a researcher correct, so it should be easy for you to encrypt and decrypt codes. That's the whole of this is it not – to turn something vital and important into something that looks like complete rubbish?"

"Y-yeh, I guess so."

A few minutes past and there were still no ideas of what the code could have meant. Still, it remained staring them in the face.

**25-4-9-13 15-9-3-15 21-15-2-7 9-20-5-19**

"Look, I can tell yer', it has to be an address, there's no other reason for it." The young researcher spoke – his mind completely blank and empty of ideas.

"There has to be. There just has to be." Divelia replied – obviously hungry for an idea into this. "Wait a minute, what if it's based on an encryption technique we haven't used before."

"What, you mean one that angellics use?"

"No, something...humans use."

"Humans?"

"Yeh, what if we use something that's human-related."

"Are you suggesting this file came from a source on Earth. That's impossible."

"Perhaps, but we're being stared at in the face by an impossible possibility, so we have to try everything that might make sense."

"Alright, any ideas?"

Divelia thought for a moment. What kind of encryption would humans use? What would be clever enough to encrypt something but also be simple enough to decrypt. It didn't take long, the answer flashed into his head. "I've got it! Alpha-numerics."

"What?"

"How many letters are in an Earth-based alphabet."

"Well I guess it depends on the language."

"Alright, English."

"Well then, I guess that's 26."

"OK, now suppose we replace these numbers with letters – the numbers being the correspondants to each letter in the alphabet."

Grabbing a piece of fresh paer and a pen, the researcher begna cracking the code. But as soon as he finished, the code looked much more confusing than it origianlly was.

**YDII OICN UOBG ITES**

"Well, that helped." The researcher said sarcastically.

"Yeh, it did." Divelia certainly wasn't speaking sarcastically.

"Oh come on, that's a load of drivvle and rubbish now. It's not even english."

"Yes, read like that, but what does four groups of four letters make you think of."

The researcher wasn't sure what Divelia was going on about. But that was only for a few dozens of seconds. The answer came and he shot to anticapated life. "A SQUARE!"

"Exactly."

He re-arranged the letters on the paper. Obviously, Divelia hadn't focused enough on figuring out what it said – he had been too focused on making sure the young researcher understood this.

**YDII**

**OICN**

**UOBG**

**ITES**

As they finally looked at the four by four group of letters, both their faces froze in pale shock. _Oh God, it's what I feared. _Divelia didn't know whether th fear or anger was going to be more stronger inside him, but what message he was visualising in his mind now was certainly not one of a nice sort. Reading from left to right, top to bottom, Divelia knew this was the final signification into how they had made one of the biggest mistakes ever – a mistake that could have enormus consequences. The message was permantly etched into his mind like a scar.

**YOU IDIOTIC BEINGS**

There was no time to stand around in shock. Breaking away from his pale-coloured fear, Divelia sprinted out of the room – leaving the researcher alone once more with plenty to fear about. Ageliss' hunch he knew, was right all along. They had been tricked. _THAT BASTARD! _It all became crystal clear. Xerok had managed to hack into the file transfer between Heaven and Hell and had sent a false program of code to Hell. But one other fact had a enormous possible consequence riding on it. Xerok had tricked Kenny into believing – believing that Xerok WAS Maxwell Hunter, when in fact, he wasn't. A trick, a cunning and deceptive trick, Divelia realised, and certainly one that Divelia wished he had spotted earlier.

_If Kenny kills Maxwell Hunter..._Divelia didn't even want to think of what could and might happen if an innocent human life was lost. But for some reason, Maxwell's survival was far more serious than an ordinary life as was the survival of Kenny and the other three. _If they die, it's game over and Xerok will have more than enough of what he needs. _Leaving the isolation of the CADACC centre, Divelia opened up a portal into the Mid-Balance and entered it. _Kenny, for all our sakes, don't go and hunt that innocent kid down. We need him and his sister just as much as we need you and your friends._


	44. Love's Changing Power

**Chapter 37 – Love's Changing Power**

The house was left for them now. Sarah and Kyle were only ones in the Hunter home and they were enjoying every minute of being the only ones here. It was a perfect time for the two to spend an actual night together. Sarah felt slightly guilty at the thought that it would be at the expense of the lads camping out somewhere amongst the fields of South Park in the blistering snow. But she didn't let that bother her – both the warmth of the house and comforting presence of her lovely adorable little boyfriend made her buzz with happiness inside.

It was eight o clock at night. Sarah and Kyle were finishing off the last of the washing up next to the bubble-filled sink in the kitchen. Although Kyle had kindly offered to try and cook something for them both to eat as the evening meal, Sarah was the one who insisted she had that prepared. And Sarah was glad she had insisted – the two had just enjoyed one of Sarah's favourite home meals – Shepherd's Pie – a Sunday-style meal of mashed potato & cheese along with a helping of mince and vegetables – all combined wonderfully together with gravy. Sarah hadn't had a proper traditional British meal in what she described as 'ages', but she was more than just glad to finally have a meal she was more accustomed to. And it seemed to hit a highspot with Kyle too. _And I'm not surprised either – she's one hell of a good cook. _Kyle was amazed that that meal was all prepared from only the likes of a young (nearly) 10 year old girl.

Kyle looked to his left constantly – following the gaze that led directly back into the living room and more precise, to his packed bag with a very 'special' resent tucked away within it. As Kyle's hands continued to feel the ever-chaing textures of soft bubbles against hard china plating, his thoughts were focused somewhere else. There hadn't been a moment since Kyle had got there that he hadn't started trying to predict and envision the look on Sarah's face as she opened Kyle's present to see her precious teddy bear back in her hands. The thought of such a happy thing made Kyle smile – taking a peak to his right at the sight of Sarah wiping away the wet plates and cutlery as she dried them off. _Ooooo, she's gunna be so happy when she opens that present. _It made Kyle get all giddy and excited inside – grinning once more at the thought of it.

Passing he las piece of steel cutlery to Sarah from out of the sink, Kyle dried off his hnads with a tea towel and helped out with the rest.

"Phew, thank God's that over and done with."

"Yeh, usually it takes the guys hours to even understand how to wash-up."

Kyle smiled. "So, got anything planned...or am I to surprise you with anything."

Sarah began thinking – obviouly exressing that she was sarcastic in doing so. "Oooooooo, I know what we can do! Wait in the living room, PLEASE." Giggling as she ran, Sarah made her way towards the upstairs closet.

Anticipating what was coming up, Kyle walked back into the living room. The warmth in the house had certainly surprised him. Taking his polyester jacket off and swinging it across the arm of one of the chairs, Kyle stretched his arms and sat down on the couch. "Come on, what are you doing up there?!"

"Gimme a minute – there's a lot of stuff I need to get here y'know."

"A lot of stuff?" Kyle felt confused. But if Sarah's outcomes were anytjing to go by, it certainly could have meant that this was going to be something exciting and worthy of a huge smile.

Finally, after a few minutes upstairs and a minute having to drag and carry what she had with her down the stairs, Sarah slowly moved back into the living room- her vision blocked by layers of sheets, blankets and quilts.

Kyle had the sound of a laugh hanging on the edge of his voice. "What on Earth...are you doing?"

"I tell yer' what we're going to Kyle..." Dropping a few on the floor, Sarah grasped the purple-white quilt she still had hold of and threw it over the couch – completely covering Kyle in a lilac-shaded haze.

Kyle laughed as he made ghostly figures from his arms and legs from underneath the quilt. "So what's this all about?"

"Kyle...how about...we make...A DEN!"

Finally lifting the quilt so that his face was visible again, Kyle gave Sarah a kiddish daft look. "A den?"

"Yep, a den."

"Ummmmm...I've heard he word 'den' before. But...with quilts...and blankets...and sheets? Are you planning another one of your silly British things again?"

Raising a cheery smile, Sarah walked over to Kyle. "A while back, whenever me and Maxwell went 'round our grandparents house, the first thing we'd always dow when we got there was that we'd collect every possible quilt, sheet, duvet and blanket and we'd build a den. Basically, a den is where you make a little hide-out kinda thing by moving pieces of furniture together and then wrapping and placing all these around them to make things like the walls, the ceiling and even a floor covering. If you make a really really nice and warm den, then you have your own little secret and cosey place to hang out and chill."

Kyle smiled and raised his eyebrow at the thought of this kiddy but genius idea. "OK...let's try it." Jumping off the couch and placing his arm around Sarah's shoulder, the two of them looked at the pile of coverings in front of them. "So then, where should we start first?"

The two looked at one another and laughed in a cheeky but silly fashion.

-

Although the window had locks on it, Xerok had no problem whatsoever in successfully but quietly breaking into Kyle's bedroom. Xerok was rushing through the depths of Kyle's drawers and wardrobe – looking for a specific item that had been on his mind for all of the day. **_Come on, where is it? Where does he keep those stupid things? _**Suddenly, there was a knock on Kyle's bedroom door.

"Kyle...Kyle is that you?"

It didn't take Xerok longt o realise that was the voice of Kyle's mother. Picking out his voice modification device and turning the dial to his desired selection, Xerok turned it on and spoke into the small microphone of the device.

"**Ummmm, yeh mom, it's me." **His voice had now transformed into Kyle's voice.

"What are you doing back? I thought you were staying at that girl Sarah's house tonight."

"**I am...errr...I just came back for something – I forgot Sarah's birthday present so I just came back for that, that's all."**

"OK, well just as long as you take care of as yourself while you're there and make sure you get to school on time too tomorrow morning."

"**I will mom. Thanks." **Xerok listened carefully and began to hear the footsteps outside going down the stairs. Turning off the device and placing it back in his pocket, he breathed easy again. **_Thank goodness – I hate people distracting me like that. _**

A few digging handfuls later, Xerok reached the depths of Kyle's lower wardrobe and had finally found what he was looking for. **_YES...PERFECT! _**Grasping the object with his cold hands and stuffing it into the depths of his jacket pocket, he slowly and carefully closed the wardrobe doors – making sure only a minimum of silent frictions made noise. Turning back around, Xerok walked over to the window and jumped his way out back into the cold outside. **_Everything I need is ready. Now all that's needed...is for the plan to go as expected._**

-

A full hour had passed, but Kyle and Sarah had finally finished what they had planned to construct. There, like a mini fortress of covers and sheets, their den was complete. Two chairs had been slided together and spun around to form a solid wall where a sheet covered their hard backs. Another cover had been placed over the arms of the grouped chairs to form one of the den's walls. The other chair and living room couch had been placed at different corners where other covers and duvets combined together to form the other walls. To ensure an even stronger structure, the room's dining table had been moved over to support th covers and a few heavy decorative objects had been placed on the chair and table to lean down on the covers to ensure they remained there. Collecting every possible cushion and pillow in the house, Sarah had formed most of the collection into a door-like blocked entrance that made up the front of the den. And within the den, warm material-made blankets covered the floors to make a nice warm feel to the ground. But to top it all off, the den had been filled with two layers of sheets and a thick duvet cover – a perfect bed to allow the two to sleep the night in the den. Kyle was slightly doubtful about the structure of the den and the fact of actually sleeping here in the house and not in a proper bed, but Sarah's ensured look and an increasing giddy sensation he felt build up from within had persuaded Kyle that this was the perfect thing to add to this wonderful night for the two kids in love.

Sarah and Kyle were now lying in the den – the covers over them as if they were in bed together. Four giant chunky pillows were rested up by the leather backing of the couch and the two were sat up as they looked through the secret opening of the door pillows watching TV. Up to their elbows in sheets and blankets, Sarah and Kyle lay in the midst of this warm den together – Kyle's arm lovingly around Sarah's shoulder. The two were both now wearing their pyjamas – Kyle's navy blue shirt and shorts brushed softly against the comforting texture of Sarah's dark purple pyjamas. Looking at Sarah and then looking forward again, the smile never left Kyle's face. He knew now that as long as Sarah was by his loving side, his life seemed complete and filled with romance. The fact that they were both still in 4th grade yet were totally and utterly in love was something Kyle first thought was surprising, but now surrendered himself to the obvious truth, that he and Sarah were and always had been a destined match together. And now as they lay by each other's side in this structured sheet-made den underneath the comfort of warm blankets and covers, Kyle hoped that this happiness was hear to stay. _I love you._

-

The temperature was way below the zero mark outside, but somehow the two giant army green tents managed to block the chills from reaching inside. Andy and James had already fallen asleep in the tents next to this one, but Josh and Maxwell still founjd themselves awake. It wasn't the cold that kept their eyes open, but something else they couldn't quite described reamined keeping them awake. Maxwell had a thick quilt wrapped around him – his face the only thing that Josh could see now. But Josh seemed to do the same as well – the thickness of a warm cover ensuring that he felt comfortably right in this tent.

"I don't think that wind likes us y'know." Maxwell spoke – lifting up a cup of hot cocoa and carefully and slowly navigating it towards his mouth.

"I guess you're right. Funny how the snow and the wind's all picked up lately. I never knew it could be this cold and windy out here in Colorado."

"Well it is a snow state." The two lads smiled. "I hope Sarah's alright back home?"

"She'll be alright Maxwell, she's got Kyle for company remember."

"Yeh...I remember."

Josh's phone started vibarting underneath the mountain that was Josh's cover. Making sure no part of the cover opened up, Josh digged through his clothes to find his mobile phone. Finding it, he lifted up a part of the cover so that his hand could get out and reach his ear. "H-hello?"

"**Hello...is this Josh Hunter speaking?"**

"Yes...yes it is. Who's speaking?"

"**Well, let's just say I'm someone Im know you'll be very interested to listen to."**

"Oh really? So who are you?!"

"**Remember a week or so ago when you and the rest of your group played a performance at the Denver Centre?"**

"Yes...what about it?"

"**Well I'm a representative of a major record label positioned in Central America and I was at your performance that night."**

Josh's body sprung back to warm life again. He listened carefully to what the caller might say now. "You were there?"

"**Oh yes...and I really enjoyed what I watched AND listened to."**

"Oh my God, really? What did you like about it."

"**Please, please, let's not get into anything detailed. The bottom line is this...the reason I called is that I want to offer you and your band a recording contract – I think you have a lot of talent and I want to take it to the next level."**

Josh's jaw hit the cold floor with shock. "You...you want to offer us a...a...a contract?"

"**Yes. Will you accept it?"**

_Like I'm gunna turn down a chance of a lifetime. _"YES, I WILL ACCEPT IT!"

"**Perfect. Now then, in order to finalise everything I need to have a word with you and the and. Where are you going to be tomorrow morning at 8?"**

"Well, apart from the girl, me and the other lads are out camping at the moment, so I guess we'll be here tomorrow morning. But be here early though – the lads need to be at school in the morning."

"**Alright, remain where you are until I get there and have a word with you. I'm looking forward to meeting you Hunters."**

"Me too...alright...thanks, bye." With the call ended, Josh looked at Maxwell – whom had half a smile but half of a confused look on his face. "YYYYEEEEESS! GET IN THERE – C'MON!"

"What?!"

"We've done it Maxwell, we've finally done it. We've got a recording deal with a record company."

"WHAT!?"

"It's true. The guy on the phone said he's come 'round tomorrow to finalise everything with the deal and the contract and whatnot. But GOD...FUCKING HELL, it's finally happened. What we hoped and even dreamed about – it's finally happened."

As Josh and Maxwell continued to talk about the supposed delightful news, only a few hundred metres away, Xerok turned off his communications device and slid it back into his jean pocket. As he walked back through the blanket of dark shadows that consumed the snow-covered fields of South Park, he made his way back to prepare himself for the mutiple array of actions he was about to commit the very next day. And once he had taken care of business here, all that was left...was the main targets to take care of. **_Like dominoes, they will all fall – one...by...one._**

-

The TV was off now and so were all the lights in the house. The only thing that radiated the warmth of light was a lamp that Kyle and Sarah had moved into the den. It lay by the side of all the quilts and blankets – casting two black shadows onto the sheet walls of two beings looking at one another from a lying down position. The two, lying down and on their sides, looked at one another with loving gazes - soft pillows providing support for their heads.

"Thanks for inviting me tonight. And thanks for everything you've done also." Kyle spoke in a soft and loving smile.

"Well thanks for coming into my life Kyle – I could have never have imagined that I'd meet someone so adorably cute and loving as you."

"And to think, I was about to say the same thing." There was a brief pause. "Y'know, Sarah. I always thought that I'd grow up as one of these lonely people – one of the ones who would never find the perfect someone to be with. I mean, I was getting quite comfortable to the fact of being a sole person living his life by himself...but...you opened my eyes to what true love really means. If you hadn't come and awakened me to the reality of romance, then I don't know what would have happened to me."

"I feel the same way Kyle. I always believed that there was no one in the entire World who was just like me. I knew it sounded daft, but I started to believe...I ALWAYS had that slight glimmer of belief that there was that ONE person who I could be with – that very someone who I'd spend the rest of my life with."

The thought of definately spending the rest of his life with Sarah made Kyle smile again. "Well I guess it's not daft anymore then. You found me and I found you." Kyle moved his body over to Sarah – closer to Sarah. "We were destined to be together Sarah. And now, I know...there's nothing stopping us from being together...forever."

Kyle moved his head closer and closer. Sarah knew what he wanted himself and her to do. "Wait"

Kyle stopped and opened his eyes again. "What is it?"

Sarah smiled. "Will you take your hat off...for me?" Kyle looked up. "Please...for me." Kyle couldn't refuse such a nice and sweet little request. And so, with a slow and gentle lift of his green ushanka hat, he placed it by the side of the covers next to the lamp. Sarah smiled again. Whatever made her feel this way, she loved Kyle even more than she could ever imagine possible when she saw Kyle's bushy tall red hair. She slowly moved her right hand over to his hair and stroked it as if it were a small cute little animal. Her soft hand moved down from the top roots, all the way down the bushy feel of his red hair, and finally, onto his face and cheek. Her hand remained softly on Kyle's left cheek and the two slowly moved their faces close together. Closing their eyes and hoping it would be the first of many loving moments, the two had a close moment of a kiss – lip to lip, loving emotions to loving emotions.

Still focused on kissing, Kyle moved his right arm over to the lamp and turned the switch off. The den and even the glow around the den disappeared and a shadowy blackness filled the den. But the two kept kissing. Even the presence of darkness wouldn't break them away from this romantic moment. But unaware to both of them, their romantic presence caused something strange but wonderful to happen. Something from within the warm depths of Kyle's soul and body had now passed itself onto and now into Sarah's soud and body. It was nothing of a sick nature, but instead, of a supernatural and demonic nature.

Whatever had been in Kyle for all this time, he had now shared and blossommed with Sarah. Kyle Broflovski and Sarah Hunter had now become identical in a very specific way. And only the demonic beings of Hell knew exactly what this was.


	45. Tonight We Sleep

**Chapter 38 – Tonight We Sleep**

_That bastard is gunna pay……I swear on my life that bastard will pay. _As Kenny found himself curled up on his bed, the sight of Eric Cartman's dead lifeless body was still stuck in his mind. Like a leech vermin that just wouldn't let go, Kenny couldn't get the horrible sight of it out of his mind. After the shock of seeing such a thing, Kenny had sprinted back home – a divide of shock and anger at what not only he saw but what he was going to do next started to take control of him. _It's a god thing my dad keeps one of these just in case……_Lying flat on the bed,he rotated his head left to his bedside table where an object lay sitting – pointing directly opposite him. _And It's a good thing I knew that my dad had such a thing in the first place. _

Kenny had loaded the gun with two bullets – he believed that would be enough, one to hit Xerok, the other if need be, to ensure he didn't survive for definite. But there was still that pressure-filled lingering thought in Kenny's mind. _Tomorrow……tomorrow is when I have to kill an innocent kid. But the loss of one human life to ensure the life of evil is lost, is much better than the loss of every human life altogether. _

Kenny leaned over the side of the bed and looked down. There, lying on the floor in a heap was his parka jacket. He hadn't gone to sleep in bed with his jacket on in a long while, but Kenny saw it as the only way that he would be fully ready as soon as the Wednesday sun rose. Holding it by the shoulder areas, he stared into the emptiness of the hood with a serious look on his face. _By tomorrow, it will be all over. And I won't let anyone down._ Lifting it up again by the bottom section, Kenny lifted the jacket over his head, fastened it around his body, tied back the drawstrings and crawled underneath his covers into bed.

Grasping the thin sheets and covers of his beds, he looked up at the pale ceiling in deep thought. _Anything that I do……will be for a reason. I just hope Maxwell Hunter will understand that. _His eyes slowly closed and the room was nothing but a pitch black blur now.

-

"Why can't we get through?!" Divelia yelled.

"I don't know. The portal is active, we can both see that. But it's as if there's some kind of invisible barrier in front of it that we just can't get past."

"………SHIT!" Divelia replied – banging his fist against one of the polygon walls of the Mid-Balance landscape. "XEROK……he knows that we know."

"So he's SOMEHOW managed to put a barrier up."

"Yes, and unless we can get through, Kenny is going to wake up Wednesday morning thinking that Maxwell is Xerok."

"When in fact, he isn't."

Sighing and groaning deeply, Divelia stormed a few steps up and down, up and down, up and down. But just then, he felt a twitch. "Heh, that's odd."

"What is it?"

"I just felt something happen……something…unusual."

"Unusual?"

"Yeh, like something I can sense just appeared for the first time ever." Divelia walked a few steps again – trying to come to terms with this feeling in his mind. _What could that be? _As he concentrated hard and tried to analyse what this new thing he was sensing was, Ageliss meanwhile was busy trying to deactivate the portal's barrier with what power he could focus onto it.

Divelia's face froze into stunned shock. He didn't know whether this was a good thing, or worse, a bad thing, but it certainly was something that needed to be addressed. "It can't be……that's impossible!"

"What?!" Ageliss turned back around.

"You know you mentioned a while back that that young girl by the name of Sarah Hunter was taken to Heaven along with her brother a few years back?"

"Yes, like Kenny, we infused them both with angelic DNA. What about it?"

Divelia shook his head – obviously claiming what Ageliss had just said was now false information. "Well that's changed now. Sarah no longer has the genetics of angelic beings. Did you notice through Kenny's visions that her and that boy Kyle Broflovski were in love?"

"I still don't get what this has to do with anything."

"Ageliss, did you forget what love and romance could do to Sarah – especially since she had the blood and DNA of your kind?"

Ageliss looked down. _Love? Romance? What has that got to do with Sarah and her genetic str- _He stopped short. The penny had dropped and he finally realised. "Good Lord, she doesn't have angelic DNA anymore."

"Yes, all that human romance and love's, combined with the powers of Kyle's inner deep demonic genetics………"

"Has just turned Sarah's angelic DNA……into demonic DNA."

After a few seconds of silence, Ageliss and Divelia started attacking the barrier with all their power and energy. _Out of the frying pan into the fire. If Xerok gets his hands on double the amount of light and dark power that he wanted……then we're in deeper trouble than expected. _


	46. So Begins The Morning

**Chapter 39 – So Begins The Morning**

Looking at his watch in confusion, Maxwell carefully lifted himself up – making sure he didn't wake Josh up. He still seemed half-asleep, but it wasn't long before the reality of the cold weather outside woke him up completely. It was 7:30 in the morning precisely and with Maxwell fully dressed with his usual jacket and hat on; he made his way out of the tent and back onto the snow-consumed fields of outside. The sun had just begun to rise on the eastern distance and there was an unusual orange and slight lilac glow of light in the blue skies above. Brushing off any minor snow he had on his jacket, Maxwell made his way across and back onto the main pavement and path – walking directly down the road back towards the residential area of South Park.

-

**7:33am **Slowly opening her eyes to a fresh new dimly lit inside of the den, Sarah smiled as she still saw the cute face of Kyle Broflovski right in front of her resting on the pillows. _Wow, I actually slept for the first time with Kyle. _Making sure her delight didn't make any loud noise, she managed to bottle up her happiness with that silent thought. Carefully lifting up Kyle's arm that he had put around her when they went to sleep last night, she placed it by his side and kissed him on the cheek – a smile raised again on Kyle's face as he remained asleep.

Slowly crawling her way to the den's opening, she looked back and heard Kyle yawn and turn over to the other side. Smiling, she crawled out and slowly made her way upstairs to get dressed. And within a quick burst of ten minutes, by **7:44am**, she was down and out of the house. Kyle hadn't heard a thing.

-

**8:03am **It had finally stopped snowing now. The fields were now clear for anyone and everyone to see. The piles and piles of layered frost and snow provided more than enough of an icy burial for Xerok to place his victims in. As he walked past the two army green tents in satisfied delight, he dragged the final body that lay in the second tent out and across the snow-covered ground to where a giant bowl-shaped hole in the ground lay. Dropping the lifeless body next to the other two bodies, Xerok used his energy to lift up a giant collection of snow. With one arm raised and controlling the floating white snow, Xerok looked down in delight at the three dead bodies that were now by his feet. **_And they died so easily and quickly too._** The smile was as cold as the very snow around him. The bodies of three innocent lads were still leaking with crimson blood. Xerok had found the sick satisfaction of strangling his victims, injuring them with energy blasts and then cutting parts of their bodies so that their blood trickled onto the white ground, a welcoming reminder that he was well on his way to finally completing his mission.

Moving his right foot so that it was directly behind the body of the oldest lad, he thrust it forward – kicking the lifeless bodies into the whole, one by one by one. Looking down at the three bloody, scarred and cut bodies, Xerok dropped his controlling arm and the huge mass of snow he had control over, fell into the hole like an avalanche. The sight of the three bodies disappeared underneath the blank whiteness of the snow. They had been completely buried – not a single sight of their presence visible now. The snow filled the entire hole so much that there was no evidence now of there ever being a hole. Xerok turned exactly one hundred and eighty degrees and began to walk forward, away from the fields and back onto the main empty road. His digital sphere floated above his hand. The pinging and clicking of inputs signalled the confirmation of Xerok's sick and evil actions.

**Minor Target – Andy Hunter – DEAD**

**Minor Target – James Hunter – DEAD**

**Minor Target – Josh Hunter – DEAD**

**_They may have been able to escape from me for the moment, but the two Hunters have now become the Hunted. Now it's time for me to finally take control of the secondary target. _**His dark boots thumping hard on the pavement as he sprinted, Xerok made his way towards the home of his next target – the very target that he was about to possess.

-

**8:07am **The gun now grasped in his glove-covered right hand, Kenny walked out of the front door of his house and down the road. He didn't let anything around him distract him from the task at hand. All that he had focus on, was ensuring that what he was about to do would go according to plan. _It's time……time that Xerok finally dies once and for all._

-

**8:12am **The smile was still on his face. Either he was having a lovely dream, or that kiss from Sarah was lasting for much longer than expected. Kyle rolled his body over again and moved his arm over to where Sarah was. But his mind hadn't predicted that all he would feel was an empty area of covers and blankets. Realising this, Kyle's eyes shot open in confusion. "Sarah?" He put his green hat back on and crawled out of the den. "Sarah?!" He called again. Silence. _Where's she disappeared to now? _As he walked into the kitchen – bare-foot and still wearing his navy blue pyjamas, he spotted a note on the kitchen table and walked over to it. Picking it up, he read what was quickly scribbled on the note.

**Kyle – Gone out early to see Maxwell. Need to talk to him about sumin. Will be back before we need to go to school.**

**XXX – Sarah – XXX**

Rushing out of the kitchen, Kyle digged his way through his bag to find his clothes. _I better go and meet up with her just so that I know she's OK. _Within a few rushed minutes, Kyle was dressed properly in clothes, hat, shoes, gloves and jacket and was out the door like a shot. **8:19am **– the house was completely silent again. Kyle began to make his way down the road to find Sarah.

-

**8:26am **Stan Marsh was fully dressed now in his usual clothes, hat, jacket, shoes and gloves. Having had a shower, eaten breakfast so early and now had finished brushing his teeth, all Stan had to do was pick up his school bag from within his bedroom and he was ready for another day of school. As he slowly walked into the empty space of his room, the door behind him quickly shut – making Stan jump slightly in shock. Nevertheless, Stan walked over to his bedside table to pick up his bag. But just as he knelt down, he felt a cold tingle run down his back – as if someone had just crept up behind him. He didn't know whether to ignore it or jump back up and turn around. Knowing any feeling he got probably presumed danger, Stan rotated his body to the sight of just his door. There was no one or nothing there. "Hello?" Stan spoke. There was nothing but silence. He walked a few steps forward towards his room's door and opened it. Peaking out into the corridor, he looked left and right – nothing.

The cold chill returned. This time, Stan spun wildly back around. Again, there was nothing. Bizarrely, Stan felt that the cold chill was coming from the direction of his bedroom closet. Picking up a mere small baseball bat just in case he needed protection, he slowly walked over to his closet. One step, two steps, three steps……four steps…………five steps………………six……steps. Slowly turned the knob of the door, Stan grasped the handle and yanked the door open. As if he were ready to hit a home run, Stan stood at the closet's entrance – believing something was about to jump out. But all he saw were his hanging clothes and a few other belongings of his that had found themselves in his closet. _Phew, it was just a goddamn thought in my mind. _Closing the closet door he turned around to pick up his bag. But as soon as he turned around, a dark figure as if from nowhere was standing right in front of him. Shocked and slightly scared, Stan looked up at the figure. "WHO……WHO THE HELL ARE Y-"

But at that precise moment, the dark figure opened his palm in a quick and attacking manner. In his palm and connected to his hand was what looked like a mini speaker with a device attached to it. And just like that, Stan began to hear really awful and painful noises in his ears and his head.

"What the……ARGHHHHH! ARGHHHH…OH GOD…ARGHHHHH!" Stan screamed in pain as he grasped his head and bent over in extreme physical and mental pain. Like a cross between white noise a chalk stick against a blackboard, the pain was unbearable. Stan knelt down on the floor still in pain – his screams getting louder and louder as the seconds passed. The dark figure merely looked on at the helpless kid – smiling with his hand open and the speaker device glowing with a red light attached to it. **_Heh, looks like dark elctronica CAN be harmful on humans. _**

Stan collapsed onto the ground – still clinging onto his head in pain. Screaming at the top of his voice, the sounds in his head looped over and over again like some form of painful noisy tune that just wouldn't stop. Stan's screams started to slow down and the noise started reducing ever so slightly. The dark figure smiled. **_Yes, now is the time. _**With a quick agile move, the dark figure disintegrated into thousands of thousands of black particles. And within a few seconds of doing so, the mass of particles began latching onto Stan's body like leeches.

For Stan, the pain came back all of a sudden. "ARGHHHHHH!!!" But this felt even worse – he could feel something dark and sinister entering his body and consuming his mind. _What's happening to me…WHAT THE FUCK'S HAPPENING TO ME!?! _Stan couldn't tell whether his words were even being spoken or not, but it was clear now – whatever battle he was in, he was most certainly losing it. Suddenly, Stan's voice, movement and thoughts…went blank. His body, as solid as stone, lay on the carpeted floor as the last few black particles disappeared into his body.

For a second, it looked as if Stan was dead. But soon after, Stan's hand started clenching and he raised himself so that he was sat up. Looking at his clenched fists, Stan smiled. But this time, it wasn't a smile Stan was accustomed to. Instead, it was more of a smirk – an evil smirk. "PERFECT" Stan spoke in a lower tone. "Now I have the perfect deception of a disguise."

Standing up, Stan walked up to his bedside table and opened the drawer. And just as he expected, at the far end of the drawer lay the gun Stan had in his possession, but more importantly, the series of 10 bullets lay in a set next to it. Taking both out and loading the gun with the bullets, Stan carefully hid the gun underneath the bottom of his jacket. With that evil smirk still on his face, Stan made his way towards the door. "And as soon as I'm done with the others, all I'll have to do is kill off this one and my mission will be complete."

-

**8:34am **Ageliss and Divelia had finally broken the barrier and had made their way back onto the fields of South Park where the other end of the portal had appeared. But what they now sensed sent a chill down both their spines. Without a second to waste, they both sprinted down the road to find Kenny so that the real truth could be told. They just hoped that it wouldn't be too late and that it wouldn't be too late to save the importantly innocent young kid, Stan Marsh. _Xerok now controls Stan, but we can't kill that lad. Stan is just as important to us as the other boys are._

The possibility of a loss like that was something that they didn't want to focus on. They focused as hard as they could to get to Kenny as soon as possible. What was soon to follow would be the confrontation between every human and being that had found themselves in the middle of all this drama.

**Author's Comment – So, will Xerok succeed in his mission? Will Kenny make a grave mistake and kill Maxwell? What has fully happened to Stan? Will Sarah and Kyle be caught in the crossfire? And why are the boys so important for Ageliss and Divelia to protect? Make sure that you continue to read on as we enter the final section of the story. Now, it gets serious.**


	47. The Losses Begin

**Chapter 40 – The Losses Begin**

**8:37am – **The perfect disguise, he had continued thinking as he made his way down the empty, lonely street with the gun hidden brillinatly underneath Stan's jacket. Marsh's vision, hearing, voice and senses now belonged to Xerok for the time being and he knew that this was finally the time that he had gained the upper hand against McCormick, Ageliss and Divelia. **_And all my targets will be there – waiting and waiting...until they're dead. _**But in order to complete the deception and sicken the disguise to the sense of unbelieved truth, Stan(Xerok) picked out an item Xerok had managed to steal from Kyle's wardrobe last night. Comfortably grippng each side of the object with his hands, Stan(Xerok) carefully took off and threw his blue and red hat to the curb and placed the green ushanka hat atop his black hair – covering it completely. Finally, using his dark cold power, Xerok covered his victim's body in a dark black shadow. The only that could be seen or even had colour, was the sight of Kyle's hat that Stan(Xerok) now had on his head. **_Now they'll think I'm Kyle and this whole thing will be even easier for me to accomplish._**

**8:39am **– It felt strange, but he seemed to enjoy it. The cool, crisp, clean air at dawn made Maxwell feel more alive. Like a buzzing beacon of heat, Maxwell slowly walked his way down an empty street just as the sun melted on the horizon and oozed itself a beautiful looking surrounding of orange, red and sunflower yellow in the nearby sky. The street felt very deserted – almost as if something apocalyptic had occurred prior to Maxwell's presence. But it didn't bother him. As he walked down the centre of the road; hands in his pockets and gazing up at the multi-coloured dawn sky, he started to hear another set of footsteps in the background. They weren't close, but they were certainly echoing down the road.

Curious as he was, Maxwell stopped and turned around in a slow 180 degree spin. The sky was a darker tone to where his sight was – lack of bright warm colours gave way to a cooler mix of cyans in the eastern sky. Maxwell began to see an image of someone slowly gaining distance from him. It was nothing but a blur for the time being. Maxwell squinted his eyes and tried to block out the blur. But still, there was no clear sight to who it was. But it wasn't long before the detailed look of the person became crystal clear to him. Maxwell's puzzled half-open mouth soon closed and expressed the sign of a smile. He knew exactly who was walking up to him. It was Sarah.

"Hey bro, what'cha doing out here?" Sarah asked – dressed in her typical cream-coloured casual clothes.

"Oh I just thought I'd take a bit of walk outside." Maxwell further raised his smile to a chuckling grin. "I feel kinda silly now, coz' I have no idea where I am."

The two were still a short distance away from one another, but Sarah could clearly hear Maxwell. Sarah smiled and raised a quick laugh. "Oh don't worry, I know the way home – I always seem to anyway."

Maxwell began walking towards Sarah. All his attention was focused on Sarah – the sight of seeing her smile always raised one on his face too. Without warning, Maxwell slightly lost his footing – tripping slightly on a raised bit of gravel and black stone on the road. His body moved slightly to the left. But as he resumed walking, something caught his attention. A blurry dark image had suddenly appeared at the corner of Maxwell's eye. Still smiling, Maxwell turned to the dark image. But what he would eventually see was certainly nothing to be happy about. A person – shadowed in a strange curtain of complete blackness apart from one specific area of detail, raised a gun towards Sarah; ready to fire and standing firm and strong.

The smile soon turned into a wide open mouth – amplifying Maxwell's cry to Sarah to get out of the way. "SARAH, LOOK OUT!" Sarah's smile quickly dropped and turned to both confusion and fear. She slowly turned around – instinctively not listening to Maxwell's plea. But it seemed this time; her curiosity would cost her dear. Just as she had fully turned around 180 degrees exactly, the dark shadow-like being pulled the trigger. The loud bang of the gun was like a blade of fire to Maxwell's heart. "SAAAARAH!!!" Sarah was thrown back – into the air and crashed immediately down back onto the black gravel ground. A crimson-toned bloody stain dyed her cream polo-shirt.

And then, Maxwell saw it – like a needle-covered penny that has finally dropped, Maxwell gazed forward at the object atop the shadowed being's head. _K-K-Kyle?! Why? WHY?! _But as Maxwell made his first sprinted step to help his more than injured sister, the cocking and clicking of another loaded gun was heard from behind Maxwell's head. He froze in horror at the sound. A gun being fired was scary enough, but hearing the clicking of a gun – one that which was directed at him, was even scarier.

"Don't you DARE fucking move you BASTARD!" An angered voice spoke in a normal-amplified voice. Maxwell slowly rotated his body around again and was horrified even more to see that Kenny was now stood only a few feet away with a gun loaded in his hand – aiming directly at Maxwell's chest.

"K-Kenny….what are you…"

"I SAID DON'T FUCKING MOVE!" The loudness and sheer anger in Kenny's voice sent an icy chill down Maxwell's back and froze him in his track. "It ends here Xerok. IT…FUCKING…ENDS…HERE!"

What?...Xerok? Who's Xerok."

"Don't play games with me! I know you're controlling him Xerok. Now stop lying and play by the truth you fucking coward!"

"Kenny…I have no idea what you're talking about. Please, just put the gun down."

But Kenny stood firm and strong – breathing hard with gritted teeth and an angry face.

About twenty feet away, Stan(Xerok) stood and smiled devilishly at Kenny's insolence. Maxwell's standing position had blocked Kenny from seeing him in his vision. **_He still has no idea. Now all I have to do is wait and see if that idiot's actually gunna pull the trigger._** Stan(Xerok) picked out a familiar looking syringe-shaped device – complete with a new, empty, clean glass capsule and made his way over to where Sarah lay on the road. Bending down, Stan(Xerok) began his procedure of extracting what he wanted from the body of one of the Hunter kids.

As if from nowhere, Kyle came jogging across the snowy fields. But as soon as he crossed the final stretch of snow and made his way onto the pavement, his face turned to shock, fear and upset as he saw a painful image lying on the centre of the road. "SARAH!" He screamed in horror – attracting Stan(Xerok's) attention who shot back up and pulled out his gun – aiming it straight at Kyle.

Kyle's eyes froze in shock as he was now staring at an unfamiliar-looking Stan Marsh – whom was now aiming at a black gun directly at him. All the annoyance of what he believed Stan had tried to do to him had become lost in the midst of Kyle's fear. For only the second time in his life, Kyle found himself having a gun pointed at him from Stan.

"Stan……you didn't. Please……tell me you didn't."

Stan said nothing but smiled in a evil way.

"Stan……say something to me…please!"

"SHUT UP!"

Kyle wanted him to speak, but he hadn't prepared himself for such an angered outcry.

"This is ALL your fault Broflovski! You just had to split our friendship up didn't you. And for WHAT……TIME WITH THIS……person!"

"Stan…I LOVE HER! You can't just come between me and someone I love Stan."

"SHUT…UP." Stan(Xerok) raised the gun again. **_This is all too good._**

"Stan look……whatever you want from me, just say. Please just……put the gun down."

**_Now why would I want to do that Kyle?! _**If only Kyle knew just how foolish he was, Xerok thought as he continued to use Stan as his puppet of destruction to all these lives that had found himself in the midst of all this.

But then……like two shining lights in the distance, Ageliss and Xerok with their wings out-stretched shot down the road at high speed towards the confrontation of beings. "KENNY……WAIT!" Ageliss shouted. The smile on Stan's face dropped to an annoyed frown at the sight and sound of the only two who could spoil Xerok's plan. "IT'S A TRICK KENNY. MAXWELL ISN'T XEROK, STAN IS!"

"WHAT?!" The shock froze up on Kenny's face with the gun still in its raised position in his hand.

"NO! I won't let this chance slip by!" Stan yelled. And within a flash of a second, Xerok shot himself towards Kyle, grabbed him around his neck and shot a wave of kinetic energy towards Kenny. The kinetic force of the blast sent Kenny's body backward. But as Kenny stood back up, he noticed a disturbing and shocking sight at the end of the gun he held in his hand. The release barrel of the gun had smoke coming out of it. Then, it hit him. _I still had my finger on the trigger when I got shot back! _

Maxwell had a uncomforting feeling of shock on his face. He looked down at is chest where his heart was to find an ever-growing crimson-coloured circle coming from his chest. He looked back up and like a dramatic turn for the worst, Maxwell collapsed backwards onto the road.

"NOOOOOO!" Kenny screamed as Ageliss and Divelia landed by his side. Divelia shot a wave of dark energy towards Stan – hitting the boy with a powerful blast of red and purple energy. Kyle was sent flying a few feet onto the snowy field as Stan lost his grip on him. Stan yelled out in pain for a few seconds before a large mass of black matter grouped together on Stan's back and ripped itself away from his body – landing harsh on the black road. The mass reformed into Xerok's body. Kyle sprinted over and grabbed the unconscious Stan and dragged him to the snowy fields where he had landed.

Xerok found himself in the middle of a staring contest between the angered looks of Kenny, Ageliss and Divelia…and the shocked, confused and fearful look of Kyle Broflovski – along with a now half-awake Stan Marsh; hat off and black hair now visible.

"You really have gone too far this time Xerok!" Kenny spoke in an even angrier voice.

Xerok raised a smirk. **"Anything to fulfil my mission, I had to do my dim-witted friend. Don't forget that you were the one who just now pulled he trigger on the other Hunter kid." **He looked over at the still Maxwell and smiled – bringing out his digital sphere.

**_Mission StatusNew.Entry - TargetNum 4 SUBJECT: MAXWELL HUNTER – DEAD_**

"**Tell me something beings…" **Aiming his speech directly at Ageliss and Divelia. **"…Did you ever get the chance to explain to Kenny McCormick that little secret of yours for why these kids were so important for you to keep alive, huh?"**

"DON'T YOU DARE XEROK!" Ageliss yelled.

"What?! What secret?!" Kenny asked in a less than polite voice.

"Nothing Kenny, it's NOTHING!"

"**NOTHING?! HA! Are you classing lying to the only one that you were putting all your faith into, in beating me, as 'NOTHING'? Well then, I guess it's time I enlighten Kenny……" **He looked to his left at the scared Stan and Kyle who held each other's bodies in fear as they stayed knelt on the ground. **"……and these other two about why they're so important to Heaven and Hell."**

"Important to Heaven and Hell, what does that guy mean?" Stan asked in a quiet but scared voice.

"I don't know dude – let's listen."

"**The only reason that these kids have any importance to Ageliss and Divelia here……" **The cliffhanger was there and now, it was time for the moment for the cliff to collapse into truth. **"…is because they are the future rulers of Heaven and Hell."**

Kenny's face turned to shock. Stan and Kyle merely looked on in confusion. _Future rulers of Heaven and Hell? _**"Kenny here is the more important one though – the GUARDIAN AND OVERALL ruler of all three main dimensions of Heaven, Hell and this very Universe. Tell me Kenny; didn't you ever wonder why Ageliss and Divelia had infused these 5 kids with angelic and demonic DNA and blood too?"**

"NO, because I was too busy stopping you from……WAIT A MINUTE, there were only 3 – Stan, Kyle and Cartman, how can there be…" But then it hit him – sending a wave of shock across his face. He looked down at the two bodies lying on the road. "Maxwell and Sarah too?" He looked up at Ageliss and Divelia with an angry look. "And you didn't even think of TELLING ME ABOUT THIS _AS WELL_!?"

"**Teh, how pathetic! You two knew that it would be the end of existence if I managed to get my hands on the energy that lay inside the bodies of those three boys. But HA HA HA……by infusing those two other Hunter kids all those years back – YOU REALLY DID begin to play with fire didn't you? But then again, your care for those two kids really was because of what I did to their parents previously."**

Kyle's hearing focused even more by what Xerok had just said and even what he was about to say.

"**Ah yes, it was the first time I had actually arrived on Earth. I remember it well – waiting in the shadows of that pathetic British city – disguising myself as a tall American man with a gun in my hands. And then……BANG…there goes Mr. and Mrs. Hunter and off go Maxwell Hunter and Sarah Hunter to their new home in…yep, you guessed it……South Park, Colorado – the very location of my other three targets. The perfect plan……complete!"**

"You……you killed their parents? But how, look at you; you're only slightly older than us, how could you have been that old and yet still be this young now." Kyle asked in a scared voice.

Xerok laughed slightly and turned his head to Kyle whom was scared by the beings cold evil stare. **"In case you haven't realised yet……I'm not really human you stupid kid. I'm an un-natural dark being. I can shape shift into any form I want…and in this case, I can also take control of beings such as you friend Stan."**

_Who……who……who is this guy!? _Kyle thought as his and Stan's grips tightened on each other's bodies.

"**But now, I'm afraid, is where it ends for all of you. Face it, I've won. Now do me a favour and accept a nice and quick death."**

"NO WAY – I WON'T LET YOU WIN XEROK!" Ageliss sprinted at Xerok and charged up his fists with a bright glow of light. Yelling in strength, Ageliss swung his charged fist forward at a still smirking Xerok. But Xerok brought his right open hand out and caught Ageliss' fist in his grip. Ageliss tried to push his fist forward and out of Xerok's controlling grip, but Xerok had a firm grip that wouldn't let go. Bringing Ageliss' held fist down, Xerok charged his left fist and swung it into Ageliss' stomach. Ageliss let out a cry of pain and knelt in sheer agony – clutching his stomach. Xerok grabbed Ageliss by the neck and punched him again a good fifty feet off into the distance of the snowy fields.

Xerok looked across at Ageliss landing awkwardly on the snow and suddenly felt a warm buzz hit him in the stomach. He looked up to see Kenny had fired a bullet from his gun at Xerok. Without hesitation, Kenny continued to pull back on the trigger as a series of 10 consecutive bullets flew into Xerok's chest and stomach. But Xerok merely smiled – much to Kenny's shock and Stan & Kyle's scared shock. Xerok closed his eyes and began to focus as he guided the 11 bullets out of his chest and stomach, through his body, up his arm and through his wrists and into his hand. Rotating his clenched hand so that it was now upside down, he opened it and the 11 bullets fell to the ground.

Clearing the shock from his face, Kenny shot himself towards Xerok. But still smiling, Xerok grabbed his gun that had fell to the ground after Stan had dropped it from before and pulled back the trigger - firing a bullet into Kenny's let arm which caused Kenny to fall to the ground – clutching his left arm in pain and screaming in agonising pain.

"Oh my God, he shot Kenny!"

"YOU BASTARD!"

Kenny tried to pick himself up but Xerok simply raised the gun again and fired another bullet, this time, into Kenny's knee cap. Kenny screamed even higher in volume with pain and agony – two bloody marks staining both his orange parka jacket and his brown trouser pants.

Meanwhile a few feet behind, Divelia had made his mind up about what he was going to do. _I hope this works, forgive me Kenny, but I have to protect Kyle. _Realising it wouldn't be long before Xerok made his way towards the two scared boys on the field, Divelia brought out his demon wings again, shot into the air, grabbed Sarah Hunter and placed her over one of his shoulder, shot towards Kyle – which Xerok spotted, and finally (which he hoped he'd get to in time) grabbed Kyle with his other hand and shot off into the sky.

But Divelia's actions came at a cost. With Stan on his own on the snowy ground, Xerok came sprinting over, syringe device (with a fresh new capsule inserted in it) in his hand and had quickly struck it deep into Stan's back. Kyle had seen everything that had happened within those few short seconds. He wanted to help Stan and stop Xerok from what he was doing, but he knew the strong and powerful grip of this demonic being wouldn't let him go. Kyle realised that he and Sarah were being taking up into the sky and the image of Stan struggling to escape from Xerok's grip was like poison on Kyle's mind as the sight of it got smaller and further away. He looked to his left at Sarah's body and quickly realised why the demonic being had grabbed her as well as him. _SHE'S……SHE'S STIL ALIVE!?_

"Listen carefully Kyle Broflovski. I know you've never seen me before, but you have to trust me on this. I'm going to take you and Sarah to the local hospital. Once we get there, I want you to take her in and do all you can to make sure the doctors keep her alive, YOU GOT THAT?!"

Kyle innocently nodded as he looked up at the demonic being that had hold of him underneath his arm and large demon wing.

And as the sight of Divelia and his last target flying away drifted of into the far sky distance, Xerok looked back down and a smile was raised once more of the sight of the other target laying on the snowy field – face down and not moving. Looking at the capsule which now had a mixture of red, blue and white thick liquid flowing in it, Xerok opened out his small case and placed the capsule in its case slot – next to three other capsules that had had their capsule bodies full with thick energy-based liquid. He pulled out his digital sphere again and inputted the confirmation of his penultimate target's fate.

**_Mission StatusNew.Entry - TargetNum 1 SUBJECT: STAN MARSH – DEAD_**

Placing it back in his pocket, Xerok began sprinting down the road in order to chase down Divelia and Kyle to where they were now heading – Hells Pass Hospital. All that there was now in the snow-covered area of the road and the fields was the seriously injured bodies of Ageliss and Kenny…and the saddening dead body of Stan Marsh.


	48. Part I: Hospital & Run

**Chapter 41a – Hospital & Run**

As Divelia slowly hovered down onto the cold snowy ground just outside the hospital's main entrance, Kyle had not once since setting off into the sky, let go of Sarah's hand. It was still warm and he could still sense a small pulse still beating somewhere within the pain of Sarah's body. Divelia touched his feet down onto the snow and carefully lowered Kyle onto the ground too.

"Come on, we gotta Sarah inside now."

"WAIT!" Kyle replied quickly.

"What...Kyle we don't have time to talk – Xerok knows we're here, it won't be long before he gets here, we have to get inside."

"Not until you tell me exactly what's going on here."

"Kyle, I need to protect both you and Sarah – don't make this harder on the situation."

"But did that...Xerok person...mean when he said I'm he future ruler of..."

"Hell?"

"Yes...wait...I'M the future ruler of Hell!"

"Yes Kyle. I was the one who took care of you and Kenny when we took you both to Hell."

Kyle couldn't beieve what he had heard. Who would have thought that so much could happen and be heard within the space of 30 minutes. It was unthinkable and even unbelievable to believe that Kyle was what he now heard he was. A ruler of Hell? A 10 year old with demonic blood and DNA? And he never knew anything about this up until now? It amazed him just how much more he was yet to find out about the supernatural existences and yet he didn't even know if there was anything else about himself that he needed to know. "So, we better get Sarah inside then."

"Right, come on." But as Divelia took Sarah in both his arms, he spun around and was horrified to see the image of Xerok sprinting up the hill towards them. "SHIT, he's here!"

"WHAT!? Already!?"

Divelia rushed dramatically and passed Sarah onto the support of Kyle's shoulder. "Listen closely. Get Sarah inside and do whatever you can to get some dotors and nurse to see to Sarah's injury. HURRY!"

Nodding in agreement, Kyle held Sarah's waist and arm and walked her weak body through the entrance and ino the hospital. With the positive knowledge that Kyle and Sarah would be safe inside the hospital for now, he turned back around to face Xerok. Whether he would merely be a distraction for Xerok or not, he didn't care, it was too late to do anything else now. He knew how much he had to put his own demonic life on the line. If Xerok managed to get his hands on the energy inside Kyle's body, then it would merely be one final step away from the end of peaceful existence forever.

Xerok stood confident only 10 feet away from Divelia – looking on the amusing-looking demon who had got out his glowing red and black sword to challenge him. Xerok smiled and continued to walk forward. Divelia braced himself, waited...and waited...and waited...and then...charged. With an almighty force, Divelia swung his sword forward – yelling in a frustrated powerful voice. But Xerok didn't even flinch and whacked both Divelia and his gripped sword away off into the distance of the snowy fields on the other side of the road. The hospital entrance doors opened automatically. Then, the chaos started.

The corridor seemed to go on forever. Like a superstrethed brightness of whites, blues and greens, Kyle jogged down the corridor next to Sarah's bed which was being pushed down the corridor by the three doctors that surrounded the bed too. Kyle didn't know how long he had to keep jogging, but it didn't bother him – he wanted to keep his eyes on the sleeping Sarah for as long as possible – his eyes never leaving hers that were closed. And just as they moved closer to a double set of doors at the far end of the corridor, a powerful set of hands gripped Kyle's hands. The young lad felt his body throw back in sudden shock as he realised his body was no longer moving with the doctors and the bed. Sarah disappeared off down the corridor and through the set of doors. Kyle looked up and realised a doctor had grabbed him from the side.

"I'm sorry son, but you can't go any further. Ony doctors and hospital staff can go beyond this point."

"But...but I have to be by her side. I don't want to leave her."

"Don't worry, you'll get plenty of time to see her once we've finished the operation and she's in her room resting."

"She's having an operation?"

"Yes. Sarah has serious injuries in her stomach and lower chest region. We have to act fast if we're to save her."

"But...but she's gunna be OK, right doc?"

The doctor said nothing but gave a half-smile into Kyle's eyes. Patting him on the shoulder, the doctor walked off into the distance and down a corner of the corridor. But as he turned, there was a loud bang of a body against the wall – followed by screams by hopital staff. Worried by what was now present, Kyle began to see a dark shadow looming around the corner and he began sprinting towards the double doors. But they didn't move – whatever had happened, they had locked in place. Kyle was trapped – no side doors in the corridor – which felt as if it were getting smaller and smaller by each passing second.

And then, he appeared. Like a disturbing figure in a nightmare, Xerok walked down the corridor with what looked like a machine gun gripped in his hands. The horror on Kyle's face magnified when he heard and saw Xerok clicking the gun into its loaded place – ready to fire. Kyle stepped back a few steps until his back was completely brushed up against the locked set of double doors. And there he stood, about 15 feet away in the emptiness of the bright corridor, Xerok stood looking on at a scared and petrified Kyle.

"**It's the end for you Kyle. Now stop all this pathetic fear and just accept this end for you."**

"Please...you don't have to do this!"

"**Oh but I do. Now just stand still while you give you a nice and quick, clean death." **With the gun still raised with one hand, Xerok used his other hand to pick out his syrringe device from out of his pocket.

But even though the odds were stacked against him, Kyle had a slim hope of escaping this nightmare. Knowing that there was no better time than the present, Kyle focused all his power and leaped to his side towards a group of drawers and file cabinets by the side of the corridor. Xerok raised and fired waves of bullets at the mid-air Kyle. Kyle was lucky to avoid every one as his ears vibrated against the sharp buzzes of bullet waves that passed all around his body. Landing on the ground, Kyle knelt down and hid behind the cabinets. Xerok simply smirked at Kyle's idiocy.

"**There's no point in hiding Kyle! You're still going to die!" **

The scared Kyle looked to his right and then, the silence was reduced. Xerok raised the gun once more and let out every bullet that was still packed in the machine gun. The bullets began to eat away into the thin metal of the cabinets and the corridor gave off a loud echo of bullets and metal crashing. Finally, after a minute of crying bullets, Xerok let go of the trigger and lifted up the machine gun. As the final collection of grey smoke lifted and floated off the destroyed cabinets and into the air, Xerok slowly walked around the object hopeful of seeing the dead body of Kyle Broflovski.

But his smile slowly and then quickly turned to frustration as by the destroyed cabinet, Kyle's body was gone. But to make matters even worse, on the wall next to the crumpled metal of the cabinet, was an open airvent – an airvent big enough for a 10 year old to fit through.

Kyle never thought he'd be trying to squeeze his way through a tight square tube of grey metal ever – but in this case, it had become the only available option for him to save his life. On his hands and knees and gripping the dull smoothness of each individual metal plate, Kyle moved on – hoping that Xerok being hadn't dematerialized and was chasing him up the vent. The thought of it fuelled Kyle's movement even more and he hurried down the vent which seemed to be on a downward slope. But after a few seconds, Kyle's next step of his moved hand met empty air – much to his surprise and shock. With no support on his front arm, Kyle slipped down the vertical shaft and landed hard on the lower metal surface of the shaft on his ass. The vent was still tight and Kyle found himself in a sitting position – only his knees and feet were above his head and his arms had been squashed to either side of his waist. _Fuuuuuck! _This certainly was a problematic position Kyle now found himself in. But using every possible bit of squeezing strength, Kyle slowly wriggled his legs downward and they finally found the continued stretch of the vent for them to fit through. But with it, came a troubling cost. _I'm going down this vent feet first now – I can't see. _But some movment was better than no movement.

Wriggling inch by inch down the vent, Kyle took a moment to think back to what had happened only twenty minutes ago on that isolated street. The killing of three (or even four) people he knew well, right in front of him, had been looping around in his head for some time now. But the horrible possibility of another came to him. _CARTMAN! _Kyle didn't know whether to be positive and believe he hadn't suffered like the others, or face the facts and come to terms ith the horror that had now been fulfilled. The reality hit him and a tear trickled down his face. _I HAVE TO SURVIVE NOW! _Inhaling through his nose and wiping the tear off his cheek, Kyle moved quicker down the vent. Finally, he could see small gaps of brightness from the other side of a vent covering. _Yes, I made it! _Kicking the covering off its support areas, Kyle slowly moved his legs out of the vent and into the welcoming breeze of the open air. Kyle knew that the vent opening wasn't on the ground and quickly assumed that it was nothing less than a few feet's drop to the snowy ground below. But when Kyle finally pushed his arms off the open edge of the vent, the reality of the drop hit him all of a sudden. _SHIT! _Kyle dropped about 25 feet down the side of the hospital wall and down onto the snowy fields. Landing side first and whacking his back against the field, he was motionless for a few seconds as he tried to soak up the pain of his crash landing. _OH...FUUUUCK! _Who would have thought that free-falling from only about 20 feet could hurt so much...and onto snow too.

But with the buzzing pain now finally fading away to nothing, Kyle picked himself up, brushed off the snow on his jacket's back and side and began to jog his way away from the hospital grounds and across the back field – towards the nearby woods and forest. But then, a loud bang was hard – the bang of a gun being fired which scared the hell out of Kyle since he had a firm idea what that sound meant. As he slowly turned his head around and eventually, his whole body, the horror of possible death had come back to him since being in the line of fire in that hospital corridor from before. Xerok, carrying what looked like a heavy artillery rifle was walking across the field – having only blasted his way through the backdoors just now. The smirk on his face was half there but Kyle knew that if he stopped there any longer, that smirk would become full soon enough.

_I can't run, that'll be too slow. I need something quicker I can use! _Chaotically looking left and right in drastic desperation, Kyle finally spotted a public shelter of bikes by the hospital's bike stand. Sprinting over, he was lucky to find a bike that didn't have a lock on it. _Thank God for stupid people! _Kyle thought as his numb hands gripped across the handlebars as he jumped up onto the seat and put his left leg in the left pedal stand. Kyle found it peculiar but not important that the bike was green – like he thought, not that it made the slightest bit of difference.

Following a nearby greyish white path that led into the forest, Kyle began pedalling as hard as he could – looking back for a second to see Xerok had began sprinting in order to catch up with him. The fear of being chased only made Kyle pedal harder. And into the grouped collection of icy trees, small humps and bushes, Kyle and Xerok moved into this new area – a forest challenge this time around. Would Kyle survive this time in the forests and woods? Whatever happened, Kyle knew it was going to be much more difficult to escape from the clutches of Xerok's determined presence. _Let's hope lady fucking luck is shining on me today!_

**Author's Comments - Well I hope you like what you've read so far in this final part - I hope it's not TOO dull. The next two chapters just to let you know will be focused on Kyle's attempted escape from Xerok (hence why I've made this a Part I chapter), so I'll try and make it as exciting and readable as possible. But don't worry, this story still has a few twists in the tale left to tell. ;)**


	49. Part II: Icy Grasps

**Chapter 41b – Icy Grasps**

There was no doubt about it – Kyle was cycling downhill on one hell of a slippery slope of snow, ice and grass. He didn't want to even look back for more than just the obvious reason – this path was too dangerous to be cycling at these speeds, but he had no choice. _What would you rather do – have more of a chance of getting injured or have more a chance of getting killed by this guy?! _Having already made his mind up to hi own asked question, Kyle maintaoned his grip on the bike's handlebars and peddled as hard as he could. But it seemed the steepness and resulting speed of the bike seemed to be powering itself as the pedal suppots spun like crazy. Kyle's legs were starting to fall asleep and he knew it wasnt long before the numb feeling of dead legs would arrive. Raising his legs out, up and against the metal bars in the centre of the bike, he looked back for a second and was horrified to see Xerok sprinting at such an incredible pace.

_How can anyone run that fast? _Xerok was running just as fast the bike's speed down the snowy hill – never loosing focus of his riding target right in front of him. Kyle looked forward again – making sure his own focus was in getting the hell out of these forests and to somewhere safe.

Just avoiding crashing into a tree and bumping across raised areas of Earth and piles of sticks and twigs, Kyle hoped that he would just survive this peril of a cycle ride – let alone survive this whole horrific saga of survival against Xerok. About 10 metres behind, still maintaining his constant incredible speed at sprinting, Xerok pulled back on the rifles loading shaft and took his aim. **BANG! **Kyle could feel the bullet whiz past his ears and crash its way into one of the path's nearby trees. **BANG! **The second bullet felt much closer this time – a whisker away from his right ear. The pinging in Kyle's eardrum was soon replaced by the crashing and collisions of humps against the cycle's wheels. The ride became much rougher and difficult to navigate within. _JESUS CHRIST! _What Kyle would do to be back home with a nice cup of cocoa in his nice comfy bed. Such a contrasting feeling was the one he found himself in as he sarted worrying about the possibiliy that this path could get any dangerous or steeper.

Pulling back on the rifle's loading shaft and with a confident smirk on his face again, he aimed the rifle at the back wheel on the cycle. Taking aim, he fired. **BANG! **Like a huge relieved breath, the tightened air in the wheel came rushing out – the cycle now slipping and sliding between sides as Kyle struggled to keep control. But the problem was soon to be magnified by the sign Kyle saw in front of him only another 10 metres ahead:

**DANGER: DEAD END - CLIFF FACE AHEAD**

_OH...SHIT! _As the cycle rammed its way through the signpost, it drifted off into the landless air and within a millisecond, made it descend to the ground below. Turning on its side, Kyle lost grip of the handlebars. The two split apart in different falling directions. The bike hit the rocky side of the nearby cliff's edge and scrunched up into a small pile of tubes and metal. And after another twenty foot drop only 10 minutes after the first one, Kyle's top half of his body crashed against the solid Earth of the ground and rolled down another few feet into a bowl-shaped pit of rocks and snow. A slight feeling of a tiny amount of blood tricked down his forehead and left elbow. But when he picked himself up, it didn't take Kyle long to realise that the crashing impact had made him feel a bit light-headed and dizzy. With battered marks on his jacket, a few torn areas on his trousers, a scar on a part of his revealed right leg and a few pieces missing from his ushanka hat – which revealed small parts of his red hair, he picked himself up. He could hear his own heartbeat pounding away within himself. The area was silent and blurry around him – his head pounding from all corners and sides. Grasping his left elbow and wiping off the blood on his forehead, he climbed out of the bowl in the ground and began to slowly walk and limp his way through the thickness of the white and green forest.

Half-open eyes and a dizzy vision didn't stop the emotions in his head run riot with him. He was still worried. Xerok hadn't followed him – not even had he followed him off the edge of the cliff. _So...where...is...he? _Kyle spoke to himself as his blurred gaze followed a formed path of whiteness as he moved. A good thirty yards later and having shaken most of the dizziness away, Kyle was limp-walking beside an icy lake. The freezing paleness of the blues and whites of the water sent a chill down Kyle's spine. The tress in this area were like syscrapers – all tall wooden structures that stretched as high as the eye could see to the sky. Around him, the bushes, plants and ground were all engulfed in a blanket of white snow. It felt as if time had just froze in movement altogether – an icy pause with mysterious properties.

And right beside where Kyle now stood, a green and white snow bush started to shake. A gentle vibration quickly turned into violent action. Kyle's eyes widened and his body froze in fear as his gaze focused on the bush. And as a figure slowly made its way from out and behind the bush, Kyle closed his eyes and braced himself. But after a few seconds of nothing happening, Kyle squinted open his eyes ever so slightly. The blurry image soon materialized into a small but cute white rabbit – standing on its back legs looking at Kyle in slight but cute confusion and curiosity. _Oh thank God, it's just a little rabbit. _Breathing a sigh of relief, Kyle resumed his careful walking method again.

The perfect reason, the perfect time, the perfect place. Within a second of walking again, Xerok shot out of one of the larger bushes and wrestled Kyle down into the lake which lay only a few feet lower in its bowl-shaped surrounding. The water, like an exploding water grenade shot out a huge wall of icy water as the two landed in the lake and began to sink their way to the deep bottom. Kyle's body went even more numb all of a sudden – the sub-zero temperature of the deep blue liquid around him latching onto his skin and clothes like a pack of parasitic leeches. But the temperature wasn't the only problem Kyle had now. As he looked up at the dark being above him as he finally sunk to the bottom of the lake, he tried to wrestle with Xerok's hand and strong arms. Xerok had Kyle gripped by his neck and was pressing him even harder into the soft wet Earth of the lake. The lack of breath gave way to a rush of crushing icy water that seemed to punch Kyle's lungs from within. _I gotta get out of this...I'M GUNNA DIE! _Screaming underwater and gasping for some kind of oxygen to breathe, a wave of bubbles were vomitted out of Kyle's mouth and made their way to the water's surface. His energy was running low and his oxyegn storage felt much more depleted. But as Kyle was about to give up hope and admit to an icy and cold death, he spotted a fist-sized rock beside him. Keeping his vision focused on the concentrated stare of Xerok, Kyle moved his free left arm over to the rock. _Where is it...WHERE IS IT!?_ If Kyle was to do something, he needed to do it now. His lungs felt like balloons ready to burst. _GOT IT! _And with an almighty thrust of a frictioned swing, Kyle forced the rock against Xerok's face. Suddenly, the strangling grip on Kyle's neck was less forcing. _NOW! _Escaping the confusion of the grips, Kyle swam a few centimetres to his right and began to swim chaotically to the surface – noticing Xerok had his hands pressed up against a bleeding part of his cheek. But as Kyle's gaze focused back on the glowing and shimmering light of the surface, Kyle felt a tug back on his right arm. He looked down – Xerok wasn't down for the count just yet. _SHIT – this guy just won't give up. _As a tug-of-war of bodily power started, Kyle continued his struggle – his mind flashing mentally with a red alert to acquire air. There was no option – it was either this or death.

With his jaw fully open to its maximum size, Kyle swung his open mouth towards Xerok's arm and closed his jaw shut – his teeth's grip firmly on the dark being's arm. _I never thought I'd be doing this. _As if he were trying to eat a really hard piece of steak, Kyle tightened his grip on the arm and in a disgusting twist of desperation, bit a chunk off Xerok's arm. Xerok, bubbles foaming from out of his wide-opened mouth and letting out a dubbed scream of annoyed pain, let his grip on Kyle's arm slip. With this being the final chance of escape, Kyle rushed up to the surface and finally saw, felt and breathed the clear oxygen-filled air of the open surroundings. _Escape first, breathe later. _Taking in a huge amount of oxyegn in just one breath, Kyle rushed across the water's surface and climbed out of the lake – rolling a foot back onto the snowy ground. Breathing deep and desperately for a few seconds, he heard a loud exitting splash on the other side of the lake. Xerok shot out of the lake and landed back on the other side of the lake's side - his arm dripping with dark blood and having a small piece of it missing. Spitting out what remains of the flesh and blood he had in his mouth, Kyle wasted no time in continuing his desperate escape. Quickly grasping the rifle he had left, Xerok quickly loaded and aimed it in the direction of the now sprinting Kyle – firing and missing once again, by a fraction.

-

Exactly a mile away back at Hells Pass Hospital, Divelia finally opened his eyes – body numb and weak from the contact Xerok had forced on him during that attack. The cold weather had got to Divelai even more now. _And I thought the temperature of Hell would be enough to protect me from this stupid cold weather._ Grasping his weaker right arm, he jogged his way back down the road. _Must...find...Kenny and Ageliss. Fnd them before Xerok escapes with the final target's energy._

-

The forest seemed to duck and jump up wth hills as Kyle sprinted his way through the thickness of the area. He didn't know how far behind Xerok was, but he didnt want to wait around to find out, that's for sure. Surprising as it may sound, Kyle had ever been to this part of the woods before – it was an area completely and totally new to him. _I wonder where this trail will take me – I hope it's not too far from South Park, let alone the hospital._ But suddenly, Kyle lost his footing on a broken branch, slipped and rolled his way down the rest of the enbankment and tall hill. After a minute of rotating a full 360 degrees across his whole chest, back and waist, he crashed down onto the final flat ground of snow. The end point of the woods had been reached – Kyle lay by one of the exitting points of the collection of trees. Lifting his head up, spitting out any snow and blades of grass he had in his mouth and opening his eyes, he was shocked to see where he had now found himself. _JESUS CHRIST...I'm at school. _

Indeed. The forest's exit was only about a hundred yards from the back of the school – nearest to the recess playground and quite clear in visible view. To his right, the woods grew in height as they followed the hillside and more importantly, to a tall hill that would give anyone a nice but hideable view of the school ground. Kyle started to ponder at the thought of how much of a distance he had covered. _The hospital's nowhere near the school – I must have travelled a hell of a long way to get all the way back here. _But now was not the time for this. _I guess school's the only place I can go now. _Picking himself up, he resumed his sprint across the snoy field and into the school grounds. He looked at his watch: **9:14am **_And there's still people coming in – did school start late or something? _Whatever the reason was, Kyle knew now that he and eventually Xerok, would find themselves within the midst of the school crowds. Helpful or not, it was certainly another challenge Kyle had to get through.

-

The pain was still there – he most certainly could feel it both in his arm and his kneecap. _I guess this is what it feels like to get shot huh. _He presumed making a joke out of it was the only good feeling he could possibly get out of this situation. As he looked up at the sky through the thickness of his jacket hood, Kenny wondered at whether he was going to die or not. It most certainly was likely, but he was slightly annoyed at the fact that it was taking this long. _Come on just do it – it's not like it's anything new to me. _But as Kenny was about to close his eyes for the final time, he felt a warm hand grasp at his injured arm. He tilted his head up to see who it was – who would have thought that the being who was now holding his arm could have made it this far across the field and road after getting punched and hit that hard by Xerok.

"Kenny...can you hear me?! Are you alright?! KENNY...KENNY!?"

Kenny smiled and slowly but sarcastically replied. "Yeh...Ageliss...apart from these two fucking bullets in my joints, I'm fine."


	50. Part III: A Life For His Life

**Chapter 41c – A Life For His Life**

"You two OK?" Divelia asked – having thnakfully found both Ageliss and Kenny next to each other by the middle of the still empty road.

"Yeh we're fine. Kenny here is still injured by the bulets, but he's alive."

"JUST!" Kenny replied – indicating the scale of the pain he was in.

"Alright Kenny, hang on."

He couldn't see them, but Kenny knew that Ageliss and Divelia had disappeared again – returning back into Kenny's mind.

"Kenny we don't have much time, but I'm going to explain this very quickly."

"Go for it." _Not that I can do anything else at this present moment._

"We CAN get those bullets out of your joints and get you on your feet again, but you're going to have do to exactly what we say."

"WHAT exactly?"

"Forgive us for thinking of this idea Kenny, but we believe you can destroy the bullets that are stuck in your joints."

"And how the fuck am I supposed to do that?"

"Alright, listen carefully. Turn into your demonic form first."

So without delay, Kenny did what Divelia had asked – Kenny's demon wings cramped and squashed underneath his body.

"Now Kenny...focus as much power as you can and aim it directly at that bullet in your kneecap first. If this works, the energy inside you should be able to melt and completely destroy that bullet into nothing."

"WHAT...ARE YOU CRAZY. Bullets don't melt easily y'know – they burn at something like a thouand degrees right?"

"Well you can make those kind of temperaturs Kenny. Just as long as you can take the internal pain for a few seconds while your body ignites to that temperature."

"Alright, whatever you say."

Kenny began to concentrate – his body starting to glow with bright streams of red and purple light in his veins and skin. Kenny gritted his teeth to bare the pain and his body's temperature started to increase.

100...200...300...400...500 _FUUUUUUUCK!!! _Kenny didn't know how, but somehow his demonic form body managed to withstand such high temperatures. Still, he felt like a furnace about to blow up. 600...700...800...850...900...925...950...975...985 "FUUUUUUUCK!!! ARGHHHHHH!!!" This time, Kenny could keep the sounds of his frustartion in his head anymore. Screaming and yelling out in sheer pain, all Kenny could feel was a small object in his kneecap starting to turn from solid to an ignited blob-like goo of liquid and gram-sized powder.

"That's it Kenny! You can do it!" A voice cried out in Kenny's head but he didn't here it. His body was glowing bright red and white with heat and he felt as if he was about to explode. His focus was so much on his own body that he hadn't realised that his clothes were still maintaining against the heat...except his hood.

-

Whatever the reason was, this was a really busy time within the school. Every kid in the school wasn't in a classroom and were wondering around the corridors doing stuff Kyle thought would have already been done earlier on. Locker checking, taking and placing books and belongings in them, talking with friends or simply walking to waste the time away, the corridors were packed like sardines in a tin. Kyle's sprinting had been dramatically reduced to struggling steps between huddles of kids and students. All Kyle could see in front of him were kids after kids after kids – either the same size as him or just slightly bigger.

But then, a loud slam of a double set of door sechoed from behind him. Kyle looked back – peeking through a miniscule gap in the huddle. And to his horror, Xerok had slammed his way into the school premise. As kids to the side of the corridor looked on in confusion, Xerok, his eyes like a gazing eagle, were outstretched and ready. This time, he knew, Kyle Broflovski would not escape from within the midst of this heavily-packed building.

Regretting the rudness of his movement, Kyle began pushing his way through the crowd – desperate to keep away from the being who was making his way up the corridor.

Xerok knew he didn't want to address himself as who he was or bring any sort of attention to himself. As things stood, all he had to do was find Kyle, shoot him and get what he wanted. **_He doesn't need to be FULLY alive in order for me to extract what I want. _**Xerok repeated to himself in his head. He had equipped a silencer handgun to his belt buckle and had carefully hidden it under his sirt front – a quick and easy place to retrieve if he found who he was looking for.

Kyle looked back. Xerok was gaining ground and Kyle had very little space ahead. The tightness of the pack had got much difficult to navigate within. He knew it wasn't long before Xerok was close enough – close enough for a shot at him. Kyle's mind ran riot once more and he stuggled to get a firm grip on a smart idea to escape the chaos. Suddenly, it hit him – but it wasn't a welcoming one. _No, I can't do that._ It was a ridiculous and sick idea anyway – if Kyle believed that it was the right, if the only, choice he had in this situation, then his reputation as a caring, cute and kind little boy would vanish into oblivion. _BUT_ And it was the biggest 'But' decision that still tormented him. He WAS trying to save his life. Would it be worth it to do what he was about to do in order to save his own life? If what Divelia had told him before was true, his own survival was the most important thing to be maintained on this entire planet. Breathing deep and opening his eyes – his eyebrows arched up and a sign of worry yet upset appeared on his face. But he knew that he had to do this. He just hoped that the person involved in what was about to happen, would eventually understand the reasons behind Kyle's actions. _Alright, it's now or never._

**_Friggin' annoying little kids! _**He knew the crush would be bad – but the fact that these kids had the nerve to bump and brush up against him was what annoyed him most. Xerok made sure that the cold black metal of his silenced handgun didn't make contact with any of the bodies of the kids brushing against him.

The crowd began to divide slightly. Xerok peaked his view through the small gaps in the crowd. And then, the smile on his face brightened – magnifying to its usual smug form. **_There you are. _**Xerok ripped the handgun from its belt support and hid it underneath the sleeve of his shirt. His body was much stronger against the slow brushings of the crowd. As kids bega to divide even further apart, the view of Xerok's target became crystal clear. He could only see the back of his target's body, but it made no difference – he was there, and soon, he would be dead!

Green ushanka hat, orange polyester jacket – there was no doubt about it, Kyle Broflovski was now only 10 feet away from him. 9 feet, 8 feet, 7 feet, 6 feet...4 feet...2 feet...1 final foot and it would be finally over. The smile never left his face. He raised his gun, pulled back silently on the gun's top and aimed it at his target's back. His smile arched to the side. **_GOODBYE...Kyle Broflovski! _**He pulled back on the trigger. Although the silencer did its drop, there was still quite a bang. The target's body dropped and went lifeless – a small circle of crimson colour growing right where the middle section of the spinal cord was. As the hundreds of students and kids started screaming and running randomly in different directions, Xerok grabbed his target's lifeless body before it fell to the ground and began dragging it across the hard, cold ground – a trail of thick dark blood following in movement. As Xerok and the body moved into a dimly lit closet, the smile hadn't left Xerok's face since he first caught sight of his target.

Placing his gun back on his belt, he removed the syrringe device along with a new glass capsule attached, out of his pocket and was ready to shove it into the target's back in satisfied delight. But the weight of the body surprised Xerok slightly – slightly heavier than what Xerok had predicted. Xerok's grip wasn't tight and strong enough and the body rolled over onto the floor so that the dead kid was looking upward at the ceiling. But then, for Xerok, his face turned from satisfied smug delight, to horrified shock and anger. The hat slipped off the target's head to reveal a completely well-cut style of light brown hair. Xerok's gaze slowly slid down to the polyster jacket. It wasn't buttoned up and underneath it, was a bright blue T-Shirt with sme form of subliminal graphic on it. It didn't take long for the penny to drop. **_SHIT – I've killed the wrong person!_**

Back outside, a few feet down the corridor and around a tight corner, Kyle gazed around the wall's angle – making sure the coast was clear. The air conditoning above blew cool air onto the top of his bushy red hair and down his neck underneath his now visible orange T-Shirt. In his hand, he was now grasping a five dollar note – the very same five dollar note that the brown-haired kid had given him in exchange for Kyle's hat and jacket. Kyle found it only coincidence that the kid wore dark green pants too. _Forgive me dude, I'm sorry you had to die._It was the most difficult decision Kyle had ever made in his entire life. But if it meant his life was spared, Kyle could at least take some concellation in the fact that he had just cheated, no, avoided an obvious death. _Time to get the hell out of here before I realise how angry Xerok is._

His auburn hair shaking slightly in the sprinting speed of his movement, Kyle rushed down the school's corridor – knowing any place in this school was not a safe place to hide.

-

With the first problem in his leg finally cleared, Kenny now stood on the empty road – his body still glowing red and white like an angry ember; focusing all his demonic energy into his arm to remove any trace of the bullet that was lodged in his arm. As he screamed at the top of his lungs to block out the hot pain, Kenny started seeing blurry images of colour and light. Kenny got the impression that he was staring into the centre of his own soul – a soul that been positively mutated by the powers of light and dark – the energy of an angel and the energy of a demon - all balanced out and combined into the very being Kenny McCormick had become. And as Kenny's scream broke the sound barrier at its highest pitch, the hot pain started to cool down. His scream downgraded to a yell and then an outcry and then a worried numbness of a shout ad finally, silence. Kenny started breathing hard again – raising his arm as he stared at the glowing red brightness of his skin, muscle and bone.

He straightened his body and walked one tep forward, and then stopped. He looked down and opened the palm of his hand. Like an energetic heartbeat, Kenny's entire body from head to toe was glowing chaotically with a bright red and white shining. His veins started flowing with the demonic energy of a purple thickness and his strength started to return to him – more natural, more clearer, more understood. Kenny looked up – his head hotter than the rest of his body. Realising his hood was on fire, he grasped the empty space and ripped it off – tearing it away from the rest of his parka and throwing it to the floor as it quickly disintegrated into a pile of hot ash. His whole face was finally visible again – the redness of the glow lighting his pale skin with a dark glow.

"Kenny...are you alright?" Divelia asked from within.

But after a moment of silence and before Divelia had a chance to ask again, Kenny closed his mouth and clenched his fist. "WHERE...IS...XEROK!?"

And within that final syllable of Kenny's short, low-toned angered voice, Kenny's demon wings shot out from his shoulders and opened out fully – a few rays of sunshine blocked, leaving a demonic shadow flat on the road's ground.

"Don't worry Kyle, I'm coming!" It sounded more like an echo than spoken words as within that short spec of time, Kenny shot down the street in a second, leaving an aura of dark red energy in the midst. _XEROK IS GOING TO PAY!_


End file.
